Back To School: The Best Bookbag Essentials

With August coming to a close and the summer heat settling down, students across the world are getting ready to head back into another academic year. Make sure your little scholar has all the resources they need come September with our guide to the best Back To School essentials below.

Back To School: The Best Bookbag Essentials

Laptop

Asus Vivobook Intel Core i5, £449, very.co.uk

In our current digital age, students can often be found glued to their laptops (if not studying, then most likely watching Netflix). This lightweight laptop from Asus will fit comfortably in your schoolbag, and has a more than sufficient memory (8GB of RAM, to be specific) and a high-quality lithium-polymer battery that should keep you going throughout the day. This deal from Very also includes the Microsoft Office 365 Family package for 12 months, meaning up to six people at home will be set up for the whole year. Bargain.

Academic Year Diary

Papier Genius Juice Academic Year Diary, £25, papier.com

With the academic year spanning from September to July, a traditional diary won’t quite cut it if you’re a student who likes to keep track of things all in one place. Instead of having to start a new book in January, this academic year diary from Papier runs from August 2022 to July 2023 and has weekly and monthly overviews, space to plan out your timetable and a deadline tracker.

Fountain Pen

Present & Correct Lavendar Fountain Pen, £24.50, presentandcorrect.com

You won’t get very far without a good pen, especially if it’s prone to breaking (beware the incoming ink explosion) or drying up. This fountain pen from Present & Correct is ideal for those looking for something both high quality and affordable, which will last throughout the school year.

Pencil Case

Seletti Toiletpaper Lipstick-Print Faux-Leather Case, £26, selfridges.com

Once you’ve found your pens, you need a jazzy case to put them all in. As most students will tell you, you’re only as cool as your pencil case – and this one from Seletti, with its lipstick-holding hand and Barbiecore pink background, is ticking all of our boxes. It measures 21cm by 15cm, so you should be able to fit all of your writing essentials in there (plus any extras you may want to smuggle in to class).

Lunch Box

Eleanor Bowmer Rainbow Bamboo Lunch Box, £15, eleanorbowmer.co.uk

A meal not to miss, lunch is vital if you want enough energy to see the afternoon through. Keep things colourful with this reusable lunch box from Eleanor Bowmer, which is plastic-free (a plus for eco-conscious students) and covered in fun illustrations depicting dots and rainbows.

Folders & Files

Paperchase Purple Marble A4 Lever Arch Folder, £7, paperchase.com

Older students may not have the luxury of school-issued exercise books anymore, but they can still keep themselves organised with folders and files. Paperchase have a gorgeous range available at very reasonable prices. The only issue? You’ll be spoilt for choice, and likely end up leaving the store with an armful of binders in tow.

Daily Planner

Mount Street Printers, Daily Planner, £10, mountstreetprinters.com

If a year-long diary doesn’t seem so appealing, you can take it day-by-day with this daily planner from Mount Street Printers. Made up of 50 tear-away pages, the planner has room to write down notes, goals, a to-do list (which you can tick off as you go along) and even round off the day with a ‘Today I’m grateful for…’ section at the bottom of the page.

Notebook

Papier Checkmate Notebook, £23, papier.com

With all the notes students inevitably take, a notebook is quite an obvious essential for their bookbag – and there’s thousands to choose from out there. This hardback notebook is A5, meaning it will slot nicely into your bag, and comes lined and ready to be written on. The fun print on the cover is an added bonus, and can be customised with your name or phrase of choosing.

School Bag

Nordace Siena Smart Backpack, £79.99, nordace.com

And where are you going to put everything? In your bag, of course. Nordace’s super utlitarian bag has enough room for just about anything (even laptops), and comes with anti-theft pockets, a built-in USB charging port and a water bottle pocket. Ideal for keeping all your gear organised and safely stored away, this sturdy rucksack should see you through multiple years of school and beyond.

Stationery Set

WHSmith Bright Stationery Pouch, £3.99, whsmith.co.uk

While not the most glamorous essential, a stationery set is very much needed if you’re making your way through multiple lessons a day. This affordable option from high street giant WHSmith comes with a compass, ruler, pencil sharpener, eraser and two eraser-tipped pencils. A perfect grab-and-go set for class and exam season.

Sticky Notes

Mark + Fold Post Its, £12.50, markandfold.com

Ever run out of space in your notebook, or lose track of thoughts easily unless you write them down straight away? Having an arsenal of sticky notes to hand can help fight both problems. Mark + Fold’s set of sticky notes come in three colours – yellow, green and white – and feature a square grid, dot grid and list format respectively. Ideal if you have a million ideas a minute and need to jot them all down.