ID Cards Across a Whole Trust: See Us at the Schools and Academies Show 2026
We're back at the Schools and Academies Show on 18 and 19 November 2026 at the NEC in Birmingham, on stand M48. This year we're focusing on multi-academy trusts, and on how one trust can run staff ID cards for every school without a printer in every office.
The Breakdown:
- Back at the SAA Show
- Why trusts are our focus this year
- How the Managed ID Card Portal works for a trust
- The old way and the new way
- Questions we get asked most
- Come and see us on stand M48
Back at the SAA Show
Last November we exhibited at the Schools and Academies Show for the first time, and it told us a lot. School business managers, trust leaders and office teams came to the stand with the same handful of problems, and they were rarely about the cards themselves. They were about time, admin and keeping track.
So we're going back, and yes, the Giant ID Card is coming with us. It's an oversized ID card photo frame with interchangeable titles, so pick yours, have your photo taken at M48, and become a star in our post-show ID card reel.
Why trusts are our focus this year
The conversations that stuck with us last year were with multi-academy trusts. Every issue a single school has with ID cards gets multiplied by the number of schools in the trust.
What we heard, again and again:
- Self-printing takes time and never looks consistent. Different printers, different templates, different people at each site.
- Nobody is quite sure who has a card and who doesn't. Tracking what has been printed, what's pending and what's been replaced is a job in itself.
- Cards need to last. A card that fades or peels by spring means another round of reprints.
- Data needs looking after. Staff photos and details are personal data, and they need to be handled properly.
- Some schools need access cards, not just photo ID. We print onto Paxton, MIFARE and dual-chip cards, and we're happy to talk through anything more specific.
And timing matters. New staff start in September, but in our experience schools settle into the new term first and the card orders follow in October and November. Which is exactly when you want the process to take care of itself.
How the Managed ID Card Portal works for a trust
Our Managed ID Card Portal was built for organisations that order regularly, and a trust is a good example of that. Here's how it works in practice.
One portal, a template for every school. We design a card template for each school, in its own branding if it has one, and they all sit in one place. Whoever is ordering picks the right school, adds the person's details and photo, and submits.
Cards go where they're needed. Each school can have its own delivery address, or cards can go straight to the staff member. Everything is dispatched the next working day.
A fixed price per card, and no minimum. Your card price is agreed on the volumes you expect and fixed for at least 12 months, so one replacement on a Tuesday costs the same per card as a full intake in September. No need to save orders up.
Less admin, not more. You can have several users across the trust, order replacements, and export card data when you need a report. Billing is monthly, for the cards you've ordered.
No printer to keep alive. No machine, no ribbons, no software updates, and no one person who is the only one who knows how it works.
One trust we work with, a group of 32 primary and secondary schools in the South West, came to us when rising volumes meant weeks of delays and an unreliable printer. They now order from 32 templates, with cards sent to the right school and dispatched the next working day.
Another trust put it simply:
"We use The Photo ID Card People to print ID cards for the majority of our 29 schools. The system is easy to use and cards are delivered quickly which ensures our safeguarding policy is adhered to."
Emily Walker, Trust Administrator, Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership
The old way and the new way
| The old way | The new way |
|---|---|
| A card printer in each school office, and ribbons to keep in stock | One portal for the whole trust, and no equipment to buy or maintain |
| Each school designs its own card | A consistent template for every school, set up by our design team |
| Someone has to find time to print, check and hand out cards | Cards printed, checked and packed by hand in Leeds, dispatched next working day |
| Hard to tell who has a card and who is still waiting | Every card logged in one place, searchable and exportable |
| Printing in batches to make it worth switching the machine on | Order one card or fifty, at your agreed price per card |
A word from our team: "Alongside basic cardholder details like name, job title, photo and department, our ID portal can also collect 'off card' data. This information is not printed on the cards, and it can be used to capture anything from expiry dates and cost centres to DBS renewals and payroll numbers. It helps reduce your administrative load on invoicing, reporting, and reissuing cards."
Nurul Hussain, ID Card Customer Support
Questions we get asked most
Can one trust have a different card design for each school?
Yes. We set up a template for each school within your portal, and whoever orders simply chooses the right one.
Can cards be sent to each school rather than to the trust office?
Yes. Each school can have its own delivery address, or cards can be sent directly to the cardholder.
Is there a minimum order?
No. Order a single card whenever you need one, at your fixed price per card.
Do you print access control cards?
Yes. We print onto Paxton, MIFARE and dual-chip cards. If you have other requirements, get in touch and we'll talk it through.
How quickly will cards arrive?
Managed Portal orders are dispatched the next working day as standard, and usually arrive within two to three days. If you'd rather design and order a one-off yourself, our online designer dispatches the same working day on orders placed by 2pm.
Is our staff data secure?
Your portal is only accessible with a unique username and password, protected by two-factor authentication, and data is encrypted with SSL. We're GDPR compliant, registered with the ICO, and only use your data to produce your ID cards.
Come and see us on stand M48
The Schools and Academies Show runs on 18 and 19 November 2026 at the NEC, Birmingham. Come and find us on stand M48. Bring your questions, pick up a sample card and see the portal for yourself.
Can't make it? Request a quote for the Managed ID Card Portal, or if you need a card today, design your own.
Shelly Jebson is Director of The Photo ID Card People, a Leeds company that has printed and checked photo ID cards by hand since 2004.
Our online card designer enables you to create your own ID cards. Simple to use, you can quickly add logos, photos, text and much more.
With no minimum quantity, all orders placed before 2pm (GMT) are dispatched the same working day.
Specifically designed for higher volumes and or repeat orders, our managed service offers a range of benefits.
With no expensive equipment, software, or training costs, it is a flexible straightforward solution to ID cards.
