Jisc membership for colleges and universities: what it costs and what’s included

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At a glance

• FE colleges in England pay a subscription linked to their DfE core funding for 16–19 learners and 19–24 trainees.
• FE colleges in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland don’t pay a subscription — Jisc’s funders cover it.
• Universities contribute through a sector-agreed model: institutional income 80%, research income 10%, student FTE 10%.
• Jisc says members don’t need to tender for the core subscription, but recommends a UK5 transparency notice above the threshold.

How the subscription is worked out

FE in England. For general FE and sixth-form colleges — including academies that used to be sixth-form colleges — Jisc says the subscription “is linked to the level of core funding you receive from the Department for Education” for 16–19 learners and 19–24 trainees.

FE in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Jisc says: “your Jisc membership is funded by our funders, so you do not pay a subscription fee.”

Higher education, UK-wide. Universities contribute through a sector-agreed model, weighted against sector totals:

Jisc invoices are issued in August. Janet connections that aren’t fully funded are invoiced separately.

Do you need to tender for it?

Jisc says that because it is “the UK’s sole National Research and Education Network (NREN)”, members “do not need to run a tender” for the core subscription. Where the cost is over the relevant procurement threshold, Jisc recommends publishing a procurement transparency notice (a UK5 notice).

What’s included for FE members

Jisc’s further education catalogue lists these connectivity and security services as included:

• eduroam, and govroam (“visited only”) — see eduroam and govroam;
• the Janet IP connection, with IP address assignment, IPv6 and Netsight — “additional bandwidth or resilience connections are extra and VAT is payable”;
• the managed router service (additional connections extra);
• the network solutions framework and the telecommunications framework — see buying through frameworks;
• Foundation DDoS mitigation and the Jisc CSIRT;
• the Janet network resolver, allow and deny lists, cyber threat intelligence, network time, and primary and secondary nameservers.

Optional extras in the same catalogue include managed SD-WAN, intersite connections, cloud connect, Azure ExpressRoute, Netpath and eduroam Visitor Access; and, on the security side, Cyber Essentials / Cyber Essentials Plus, critical services protection, Foundation plus DDoS, penetration testing, a security operations centre, cyber security threat monitoring and Netsweeper web filtering.

What’s included for HE members

The higher education catalogue lists the same connectivity items: eduroam, the Janet IP connection (extra bandwidth or resilience chargeable, plus VAT), the managed router service, and the network solutions and telecommunications frameworks.

Where to go next

• What is Janet, and what does a Janet IP connection include?
• Who can connect to Janet: the connection policy

Questions people ask

How much does Jisc membership cost an FE college?

In England the subscription is linked to the college’s DfE core funding for 16–19 learners and 19–24 trainees. Colleges in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland don’t pay a subscription, because Jisc’s funders cover it.

Do we need to run a tender for Jisc membership?

Jisc says not, because it is the UK’s sole national research and education network. It recommends publishing a UK5 procurement transparency notice if the cost is over the relevant threshold. Check this with your own procurement adviser.

Sources

Checked 25 October 2026. We wrote this guide from these sources, in our own words:

1. Jisc: How Jisc membership works (jisc.ac.uk)
2. Jisc: Catalogue of services for further education (jisc.ac.uk)
3. Jisc: Catalogue of services for higher education (jisc.ac.uk)

Broadband for Education is an independent guide. It is not a broker or a supplier, and it is not owned by, or connected to, Jisc, any network provider, framework or government body. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.