Top 20 Back to School Supplies

Back to school season is one of the busiest times of the year. To keep you from heading into the first day of school unprepared, we’ve gathered our top 20 student must-haves. Read on to see what we recommend for junior high to college students.

Table of Contents

The Best Bags & Cases for Students

The Best Backpack for Students: Doughnut Macaroon Standard Backpacks

The Doughnut Macaroon is a stylish backpack with plenty of storage space.

These stylish backpacks will take you from school to hangouts seamlessly. The zippered main compartments have plenty of storage space, including padded pockets that fits most 13” laptops or any documents you want to protect. There are also other pockets for storing phones, pens, and other accessories. The shoulder straps are adjustable and come with a snap button to keep the excess strap from getting in your way. The backpacks are water-repellent, durable, and come in a rainbow of colors. Doughnut offers several different lines within the Macaroon series, including the Sky, Nature Pale, and Monet.

The Best Bag Organizer for Students: Lihit Lab Bag in Bags

The Lihit Lab Bag in Bag fits all of your essentials.

Students involved in extracurricular activities should invest in a bag in bag. These handy organizers hold your essentials in one place, making it easy to move it from a backpack to another bag, like your gym duffel or music case. The Lihit Lab Bag in Bag has pockets in various sizes to keep small items like your ID card and smart phone as well as large notebooks or electronics.

The Best Pen Case for Students: Nomadic Wise-Walker PF-03 Carbonium Pen Cases

The Nomadic Wise-Walker PF-03 Carbonium Pen Cases have many pockets to organize your pens.

This lightweight and durable carbonium pen case is perfect for students. Carbonium repels water and gives the pen case a sophisticated carbon fiber look. The inside of the case is divided into two main sections to help you stay organized. Mesh pockets line the case, giving you space for small accessories. Use the outer pocket to store items you want to access quickly. The case comes in brown and black, but for students who like brighter colors, check out the similar PE-09.

The Best Paper for Students

The Best Binder for Students: Kokuyo Campus Slide Binders & Loose Leaf Papers

The Kokuyo Campus Slide Binders can be filled with their Loose Leaf Papers.

Kokuyo Campus Slide Binders are named for their unique ring mechanism — just a touch will slide the rings open or closed. These binders come with five colored divider tabs and a plastic sleeve. They pair perfectly with Kokuyo Campus papers. Their loose leaf paper comes in two types: smooth Sarasara paper and grippy Shikkari paper. The Sarasara boasts the unique dotted line rule, designed specifically for organized note-taking. Study planner sheets for organizing and tracking assignments are also available.

The Best Notebook for Students: Kokuyo Smart Campus Notebook - Semi B5 - Pack of 5

The Kokuyo Smart Campus Notebook is lighter than most notebooks.

Featuring thinner and lighter paper than the regular Campus notebooks, these Smart Campus Notebooks will keep your bags from getting too heavy. Their dotted rule sheet style is ideal for students: you can easily section off your notes or create neat graphs and diagrams. They’re available in 6 or 7 mm rule to accommodate various handwriting sizes. The packs come with five notebooks of different colors, so you can keep one for each class.

The Best Planner for Students: Mark's System Planner and Accessories

The Mark's Weekly Academic Planner helps keep your schedule organized.

Keep your schedule organized with Mark’s System Planner Binders and Accessories. These stylish binders come with three monthly calendars, five weekly calendars with a horizontal format, and five weekly calendars with a vertical format. They also include lined paper, dot grid paper, and pink blank paper, which you can use for memos, to-do lists, or note taking. Because all of the calendars are undated, you don’t need to worry about wasting unused months or weeks. Instead, you can focus on finding which scheduling system works for you and be your best productive self! Refills can be purchased as needed and are available with brown or pink accents, adding a subtle, playful touch to your planning.

Those looking for a dated option can check out Mark’s Academic Planner. It spans September 2023 to December 2024 and includes vertical weekly layouts, as well as yearly and monthly overviews.

The Best Pens & Pencils for Students

The Best Ballpoint Pen for Students: Pilot Dr. Grip Ballpoint Pens

The Pilot Dr. Grip Ballpoint Pen features an innovative grip design.

Students write a lot of notes and often suffer from hand fatigue as a result. The Dr. Grip can help relieve this pain with its innovative double-layer grip design. The outer layer is firm while the inner layer is soft, resulting in the perfect moderate softness that’s not too flimsy and not too hard. You can even choose from a range of neutral or fun colors to express your personality.

The Best Gel Pen for Students: Zebra Sarasa Mark On Gel Pens

The Zebra Sarasa Mark On Gel Pens are formulated to not smear under highlighters.

Using gel pens to write notes can be tricky: on the one hand, they offer smooth, pigmented ink in lots of colors. On the other hand, they’re prone to smudging, especially under highlighters. You don’t have to worry about that with the Sarasa Mark On. It can stand up to highlighting after just five seconds on the page with specially formulated ink that has more water resistance and adherence to paper than typical gel ink.

The Best Highlighter Pen for Students: Zebra Justfit Mojini Line Highlighters

The Zebra Justfit Mojini Line Highlighters won't smear water-based ink.

If you can’t let go of your favorite gel pen even though it smears under highlighters, we have just the thing. The Justfit Mojini Line Highlighter binds with water-based ink to prevent smudging. The soft chisel tip flexes and hugs the page, giving you neat lines without having to hold the highlighter at the perfect angle. This makes it great for curved surfaces, like the pages of a thick textbook. If you need more colors, we recommend the Tombow Kei Coat Highlighters. Though they don't flex like the Justfit Mojini line, they're reinforced with plastic around the tips for heavy-duty highlighter and come in vibrant colors.

The Best Multi Pen for Students: Uni Jetstream Multi Pens

The Uni Jetstream Multi Pens feature low-viscosity ink that is smooth and pigmented.

Multi pens are handy for students because they contain multiple components in one convenient tool, allowing you to cut down on the clutter in your pen case! We recommend Jetstream multi pens as the Jetstream has one of our favorite low-viscosity ballpoint ink formulas that’s smooth, pigmented, and fast drying. They’re available with or without a mechanical pencil component and in a variety of body styles and colors. Check out our comprehensive Jetstream guide to learn more.

The Best Mechanical Pencil for Students: Pentel Orenz Mechanical Pencils

The Pentel Orenz Mechanical Pencils comes in a miniscule 0.2 mm tip size.

We highly recommend the Pentel Orenz for students, especially to use in math class. The best mechanical pencil for math lets you write intricate equations clearly and precisely, easily fitting numbers into the small squares of graph paper. The Orenz is the only pencil to offer 0.2 mm lead, which makes even the tiniest notations easy to read. Although the 0.2 mm lead size is delicate, the Orenz is equipped with a sliding lead sleeve that reinforces the lead along its entire length to prevent breakage.

The Best Wooden Pencil for Students: Uni Mitsubishi 9850 Pencil

The Uni Mitsubishi 9850 Pencil has an eraser that actually works.

Students need a pencil that is dark enough for Scantrons and erases easily to fix mistakes. Even though "For Office Use" is engraved on the pencil, the Uni Mitsubishi 9850 hits all the marks for students. It comes in HB, making it safe for Scantrons, and erases without a trace. The balance of smoothness and feedback makes it a pleasure to write with. Plus, the eraser is one of the best mounted erasers we’ve come across, so students don’t have to worry if they forget their eraser.

The Best Accessories for Students

The Best Book Stand for Students: Raymay Kenko Adjustable Book Stands

The Raymay Kenko Adjustable Book Stands can help you correct your posture.

This handy book stand is designed to create healthy study habits, from preventing near-sightedness to correcting your posture while you read. The angle of the frame is adjustable from 30 to 70 degrees. We recommend using an angle of 45 degrees with the stand set about 12 in or 30 cm away from the eyes. Of course, you can experiment with the angle that best suits your height. The book stand has a sturdy steel frame that holds books and notebooks up to A4 in size and its silicone-tipped prongs keep the stand from scratching the pages.

The Best Correction Tape for Students: Tombow Mono Air Refillable Correction Tapes

The Tombow Mono Air Refillable Correction Tapes only need a light touch to use.

With only a light touch, Tombow Mono Air Refillable Correction Tapes lay down smooth lines of correction tape, easily covering up errant pen marks. They feature flip caps that protect the tapes when not in use, so they can be stored safely in a pen case or backpack. These correction tapes are available in three widths, all of which can be refilled, and a variety of colors to match your style.

The Best Eraser for Students: Sakura Sumo Grip Erasers

Sakura Sumo Grip Erasers lifts graphite effortlessly for a smuge-free clean.

The Sumo Grip tops our Best Eraser list and we had to include it here as well. It’s made from microporous plastic foam that lifts graphite almost effortlessly and traps it for a smudge-free clean. As it is firmer and grippier than similar foam erasers, it is easier to control so that you don’t accidentally erase more than you mean to. It’s easy to clean up after as the crumbs roll together for easy pick up. And since it’s black, it looks tidy no matter how much erasing you do.

The Best Index Tabs for Students: Cluster Japan Pitta Index Tab Sticky Notes

The Cluster Japan Pitta Index Tab Sticky Notes can be used as index tabs or sticky notes.

Index tabs help students organize their notes and mark important pages in textbooks. These Pitta Index Tab Sticky Notes also double as sticky notes and have enough space for you to add commentary to your textbooks! Six of them align perfectly along the pages of an A5 size notebook. These sheets are easily lifted out of the way so you can see the notes beneath.

The Best Pencil Board for Students: Sun-Star Grid Shitajiki Writing Boards

The Sun-Star Grid Shitajiki Writing Boards are printed with ruler markings and grid layout.

Shitajiki, or writing boards, are lifesavers for keeping your notes and textbooks neat. Place these flexible boards under a sheet of paper or page to provide a smooth writing surface and prevent unwanted marks or dents to the pages underneath. We like the Sun-Star Grid Writing Boards because they come with ruler markings along the top and right edges that can help you divide up the page. They’re also printed with a convenient 5 mm graph so you can write in a straight line every time.

The Best Ruler for Students: Kutsuwa Stad Ruler Sets

The Kutsuwa Stad Ruler Sets come with a variety of rulers.

Students need more than one type of ruler, whether it’s for geometry class or an art project. This handy ruler set includes several rulers including triangles and a protractor. The black rulers and protractor have a latex-free, slip-resistant backing, so it doesn’t slide around while you are using it. The measurements begin at the very edge of the ruler, which is convenient for precise measuring. The mini ruler is flexible and has circles of varying diameters for drawing small circles that are difficult to draw with compasses.

The Best Sharpener for Students: KUM Automatic Brake Sharpeners

The KUM Automatic Brake Sharpeners sharpen pencils to a long point.

The KUM Automatic Brake Sharpener is super reliable, making it a no-brainer for students. It employs a two-step process to ensure a clean, super sharp point every time. The first blade removes a section of wood to reveal the graphite. The second blade then sharpens the lead. The resulting tip is longer than typical sharpeners make. This lets you stretch out the time between sharpenings. They’re portable enough to stick in a pen case, but if you want a standing sharpener, we recommend the Carl Ein Pencil Sharpener. It creates a similar point to the Kum and is a cinch to use.

The Best Stapler for Students: Max Colorgimic Mini Stapler

The Max Colorgimic Mini Stapler can staple up to 10 pages.

The Max Colorgimic Mini Stapler is so much more than a gimmick. This impossibly small stapler can staple up to 10 sheets at a time! It has a convenient locking system to keep it from activating while you’re carrying it. To use it, simply pull it open, slide the colorful round button down into the “set” position, and close the stapler. Now it’s ready to use. When you’re done, pull the stapler open and slide the button back up into the lock position. It’s no wonder it won the 2016 Good Design Award and the ISOT 2016 award for design! If you need something with more stapling power, try the Kokuyo Racchikisu Stapler — it can staple up to 20 pages.

How We Approach Research and Testing

Our writers draw on their personal expertise, consult our in-house subject matter experts, and do extensive research to make our guides as accurate and comprehensive as possible. We then test every finding that makes it through the research stage. Only the techniques and tools whose performance we personally confirm make it into our guides as recommendations.

More Resources

Conclusion

Will you be putting any of these items on your back-to-school shopping list? Let us know in the comments below. For students on a budget, check out our Top Affordable Back to School Supplies guide.

Shop This Post

Product	Product Type	Standout Feature	Shop
Cluster Japan Pitta Index Tab Sticky Notes	Index Tabs, Sticky Notes	Easy to arrange, color-coded	Add Items to Cart
Doughnut Macaroon Standard Backpacks	Backpack	Stylish, ample storage space	Add Items to Cart
Kokuyo Campus Loose Leaf Papers	Loose Leaf Paper	Variety of sheet styles	Add Items to Cart
Kokuyo Campus Slide Binders	Binder	Easy to open	Add Items to Cart
Kokuyo Smart Campus Notebook - Semi B5 - Pack of 5	Notebook	Lightweight, dotted rule sheet style	Add Items to Cart
Lihit Lab Bag in Bags	Bag Organizer	Ample compartments, convenient to use	Add Items to Cart
Mark's System Planner and Accessories	Planner	Undated, customizable	Add Items to Cart
Nomadic Wise-Walker PF-03 Carbonium Pen Cases	Pencil Case	Made of water-resistant carbonium	Add Items to Cart
Pentel Orenz Mechanical Pencils	Mechanical Pencil	Small tip sizes available	Add Items to Cart
Pilot Dr. Grip Ballpoint Pens	Ballpoint Pen	Ergonomic grip section	Add Items to Cart
Raymay Kenko Adjustable Book Stands	Book Stand	Adjustable base	Add Items to Cart
Sakura Sumo Grip Erasers	Eraser	Erases efficiently and cleanly	Add Items to Cart
Sun-Star Grid Shitajiki Writing Boards	Pencil Board	Printed with ruler markings and grid	Add Items to Cart
Tombow Mono Air Refillable Correction Tapes	Correction Tape	Refillable	Add Items to Cart
Uni Jetstream Multi Pens	Multi Pen	Smooth, low-viscosity ink	Add Items to Cart
Uni Mitsubishi 9850 Pencil	Wooden Pencil	Comes with usable eraser	Add to Cart
Zebra Justfit Mojini Line Highlighters	Highlighter Pen	Won't smear pen ink	Add Items to Cart
Zebra Sarasa Mark On Gel Pens	Gel Pen	Doesn't smear under highlighter ink	Add Items to Cart

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