Classroom acoustic conditions: understanding what is suitable through a review of national and international standards, recommendations, and live classroom measurements

Children spend 45-75% of their time in the classroom listening to their teacher and classmates. As current teaching methods have a strong focus on group work activities, contemporary classrooms are prone to high noise levels. Therefore, the classroom acoustic environment needs to be designed appropriately. The AS/NZS2107:2000 standard currently has recommendations for unoccupied classroom ambient noise levels and reverberation times, however, these are not enforced. Furthermore, there are no recommendations for occupied classroom acoustic conditions. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to review current classroom acoustic standards and recommendations around the world, summarise typical noise levels found in classrooms, and provide recommendations on the unoccupied and occupied classroom acoustic conditions needed for children at different ages and children with special educational needs.