The annual Tablets and Apps in Schools research involving schools and industry has shown a notable increase in the penetration of tablets in the education arena.
The research estimates that there are now around 141,000 tablets in secondary schools, up from 96,000 in 2012.
A year ago, secondary professionals predicted that tablets would make up 6.9 per cent of all school computers by the end of 2012. This figure has now risen to 10.7 per cent by the end of 2013.
However, the survey finds that funding and budget allocations are still making it difficult for schools to adopt tablet technology, with 83 per cent of respondents saying it was “significant” or “very significant” barrier.
Looking further ahead, the survey estimates that a quarter of pupil-facing computers will be tablets by 2015, with 370,000 devices being used by students across all secondary schools by then.
The survey, commissioned by the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) involved 632 schools, including 305 secondaries, as well as representatives from the educational ICT industry.
It also reveals that 11 per cent of all ICT-based learning is being spent on educational apps – up from nine per cent a year ago.
Elsewhere, 41 per cent of secondary tablets are Apple iOS, 26 per cent Google Android, 16 per cent Microsoft Windows 8, and five per cent Amazon Kindle Fire, the research suggests.
Caroline Wright, director of BESA, said the increasing trend towards the use of tablet technology in the classroom brought a “challenge for sector suppliers to meet the demand for quality content and apps”.