The Best Fountain Pens for School

There are some obvious disadvantages to using a fountain pen in school. They use liquid ink, and can leak if they’re shaken about too much - and schools can be environments where things do get shaken about. They’re not necessarily expensive, but never as cheap as a cheap ballpoint. And dropping off a desk onto the nib could ruin the pen entirely.

But they’re still quite popular for school use, so there must be some advantages too. They write without any pressure, or at least with very little pressure, so they can be more relaxing to use - important if you’re writing a lot. And while the pens usually cost a bit more than a cheap ballpoint, refilling them can be very cheap, so the overall cost of actually using one is very reasonable. And gets cheaper as you use it more. This all makes them very well-suited to any environment where there will be a lot of writing. Like, for example, school.

Features to Look For

• Price. Let’s be honest here, you probably want it to be reasonably cheap. Pens at school can get damaged or lost, so a fancy fountain pen that costs hundreds of pounds is probably not the best move.
• Toughness. Anything can be broken, with enough effort, but some things are harder to break than others. Something that can take a few knocks without breaking too easily would be a very good idea.
• A good grip. Polished metal might look great, but this is a pen to be used. A triangular grip can help encourage the ‘correct’ style of grip, but might have to be avoided if your child has already picked up a different grip.

Some Recommendations

• Lamy Safari - popular with adults too, the Safari is tough ABS plastic, with reasonably-priced replacement nibs available. Uses Lamy’s own cartridges, but a converter lets you use bottled ink. Not the cheapest option to buy, but well worth considering, especially for older kids.
• Lamy ABC - specifically designed for kids, the ABC has a nice wooden barrel and chunky shape, making it suitable for younger kids. Even includes name stickers to label the cap.
• Pilot V-Pen - not specifically for kids, but they’re cheap disposable fountain pens, so they’re not a bad idea if there’s a risk of the pen getting lost or broken.
• Pelikan Pelikano Junior - a fountain pen designed specially for younger kids. Pelikan may be best known in the UK for their more luxurious fountain pens, but they make a wide range of school supplies too, which are especially popular in their native Germany.
• Kaweco Sport - like the Safari, probably more of an option for the older kids. You know how some kids want to have the same thing everyone else has? The Kaweco could be a good option for the other type of kids, who want to be different.