Basketball court markings for school playgrounds

What are basketball court markings?

Basketball court markings are the thermoplastic lines that set out a basketball court on a playground: the sidelines and end lines, a centre line and circle, and at each basket a key, a free-throw line and a three-point arc.

We lay them in preformed thermoplastic, cut to shape before it reaches your school and heat-bonded to the tarmac.

The key is the rectangle in front of each basket. FIBA, the sport's world governing body, calls it the restricted area, and players also call it the paint.

Pupils use a marked court at break and lunch as well as in PE, and the UK Chief Medical Officers count that play towards an average of at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a day for 5 to 18 year olds. Basketball is one part of our sports court and MUGA line markings.

Which basketball court markings do we install for schools?

Uniplay supplies and installs basketball court markings in three school layouts: a full 30m x 15m court with a key and three-point arc at each end, a half court around one basket, and a single key where only one hoop fits.

Our full basketball court marking adds the centre circle, halfway line and free-throw circles to those keys and arcs, all in red. It is the layout for 5v5 games, PE lessons and after-school clubs.

Where the playground is short of length, the basketball key and D marks one end of a court in a 13m x 8.5m area: the key, the free-throw circle and a large three-point arc called the D.

The single basketball key needs just 5m x 8m. It keeps the free-throw circle and adds the small no-charge semicircle under the basket, which is enough for shooting and layup practice.

A wall-mounted hoop or a lone post can work with no court at all. Our five basketball shooting spots are 0.4m orange ball markers set around the hoop, so pupils shoot from fixed distances.

Schools that teach netball, football or tennis on the same tarmac can choose a combined design: the netball and basketball court, the basketball and football court or the four-sport multi court, each in a 30m x 15m layout. If you are unsure which one fits, the free survey settles it.

How much space does a school basketball court need?

A full-size basketball court measures 28m by 15m inside its boundary lines under the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026, and a competition floor adds at least 2m of clear space on every side, giving a minimum area of 32m by 19m.

Outdoor basketball court markings can work to a smaller standard. Sport England treats outdoor basketball as community play, and its comparative sizes give 26m x 14m as the minimum court and 28m x 15m as the preferred one, with 1.05m to 2.05m of run-off.

Half courts need far less room. Basketball England recommends 15m wide by 11m to 14m long, with at least 1m clear to the nearest obstruction, and keeps the key, free-throw line and three-point line at their official sizes even when the outer court changes.

Our full and combined designs are listed at 30m x 15m, the area each one covers on the playground, so the figure differs from FIBA's 28m court. We set the court out within the space you have, and a full competition court needs that extra run-off as well.

What do the basketball court lines mean?

Basketball court lines mark the boundaries and scoring zones: sidelines and end lines set out of bounds, the centre line divides the halves, and the key, free-throw line and three-point line decide where players stand and what a basket scores.

Every line is 5cm wide under the FIBA rules. Where there is room we mark each one to its recognised size, and on a tight site the scaled plan shows what has been reduced before anything is laid.

• Sidelines and end lines: the boundary of the court. The lines count as out, so a player touching one is out of bounds.
• Centre line: crosses the court at its midpoint and runs 0.15m past each sideline. A team has 8 seconds to bring the ball over it from its own half.
• Centre circle: 1.8m in radius, measured to the outer edge of the line. The first quarter starts here with a jump ball.
• Restricted area, or key: the rectangle in front of each basket, 4.9m wide and reaching 5.8m out from the end line. An attacker may not stay inside it for more than 3 seconds while their team has the ball.
• Free-throw line and semicircle: a 3.6m line whose far edge sits 5.8m from the end line, with a 1.8m radius semicircle beyond it. The shooter stands behind the line inside the semicircle, and each free throw scores 1 point.
• Three-point line: straight lines 0.9m in from each sideline, joined to an arc 6.75m from the point beneath the centre of the basket, which is 1.575m out from the end line. A shot from beyond the line scores 3 points and one from inside scores 2.
• No-charge semicircle: a 1.3m radius arc beneath the basket. If a defender stands inside it, an attacker in the air shooting or passing cannot be called for charging into them.

How much do basketball court markings cost?

Basketball court markings cost from around £125 for a set of five shooting spots to about £1,695 for a four-sport multi court, fitted, and our full 30m x 15m basketball court has a guide price of £745.

These are guide prices that include installation and exclude VAT. The final figure comes from the survey, because it depends on the size of the court, how many sports, lines and colours you want, and the state of the surface.

Half courts cost far less. A single key is £135 and the key and D is £225, which makes either a sensible first step for a small playground.

Combining sports costs less than marking them separately: our netball and basketball court is £1,095, against £1,290 for the separate netball and basketball designs. Ask us for a free survey and we will price the layout that fits.

What colour should basketball court lines be?

Basketball court lines can be any solid colour that stands out clearly from the surface: the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026 ask for 5cm lines in high contrast, with all boundary lines in one colour and each pair of markings matching at both ends.

So both keys share a colour, as do both three-point lines and both no-charge semicircles. FIBA allows the centre line and centre circle to differ from everything else.

Contrast is the test. The sportscotland basketball datasheet prefers white lines for basketball-only halls and black where a hall is shared with other sports. For outdoor shared courts, Sport England's surfaces guidance gives a rule of thumb of the most-used sport in white, the second in yellow, then blue, then red.

Our single-sport basketball designs are drawn in red, which reads clearly on black tarmac. On a coloured surface coating, such as the purple courts in our gallery, yellow and white lines stand out better.

Can basketball court markings share space with netball and other sports?

Basketball court markings share space well with netball because a 28m x 15m basketball court fits inside the 30.5m x 15.25m netball court in Sport England's size guidance, so one rectangle of tarmac can carry both games in two line colours.

On a shared court the netball court lines divide the length into thirds and add a shooting semicircle at each end, while the basketball keys and arcs sit under the hoops. Add tennis or mini football and the space becomes a multi-use games area (MUGA) marking, with every sport in its own colour.

More sports means more lines to read. Sport England warns that overlapping lines make it harder for players to find their own, and advises against marking a sport for completeness if it will rarely be played. Every overlap shows on your scaled plan first, so PE staff can drop a sport they will rarely teach.

Basketball England notes that a MUGA built around a tennis court can leave the basketball court slightly longer than official size, which still suits recreational games.

What standards apply to basketball court markings?

Basketball court markings follow the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026, valid from 1 October 2026, which fix the court at 28m by 15m with 5cm lines, while Sport England, sportscotland and Basketball England publish the design guidance for school and community courts.

FIBA's equipment rules place the face of each backboard 1.2m in from the end line. The three-point arc and the no-charge semicircle are both measured from the point beneath the centre of the ring, so the lines and the post have to agree.

Sport England's comparative sizes accept other court sizes where a site needs them, as long as they are agreed with the governing body. The sportscotland datasheet sets 2m safety margins around a 28m x 15m court and measures its outer dimensions without the width of the lines.

Where there is room we mark to these recognised dimensions. For a court that will host formal competition, we confirm the exact standard you need at survey and mark to it.

How are basketball court markings installed?

Basketball court markings are installed by our own DBS-checked team, usually in a day for a single court, with preformed thermoplastic heat-bonded to a setout your PE staff have already approved on a scaled plan.

Every basketball court line marking job starts with the survey. We measure the usable area, note the gradient, drainage and obstacles such as existing posts, and work out which courts fit properly and where lines can overlap.

The scaled court plan then shows every line and its colour, so staff can check the keys, arcs and run-off before anything is laid.

On the day we prepare the surface and lay the thermoplastic, which arrives cut to shape and bonds to the tarmac under heat. The lines are ready to use within about 30 minutes, once they have cooled, and a full MUGA takes a little longer than one court.

At Highwall Park MUGA in Rotherham we worked for Proludic: our team prepared the surface, applied an Xtreme coating and then laid preformed thermoplastic sports markings, with white basketball lines over pink, turquoise and cream stripes.

How long do basketball court markings last?

Basketball court markings in preformed thermoplastic carry our warranty of up to four years, subject to the condition of the ground, and we have seen them last for more than 10 years.

Our thermoplastic lasts up to 10 times longer than ordinary paint. Basketball puts that to the test: pupils stop, pivot and slide on the same key every lesson, and thermoplastic takes that scuffing far better.

The ground sets the limit. The warranty depends on the condition of the tarmac underneath, so we look at it during the survey and tell you if it needs repair first.

When lines do wear, we can refresh them on a return visit.

Why choose Uniplay for basketball court markings?

Uniplay designs and installs basketball court markings for schools, nurseries and councils across the UK and Ireland from our base in Blackburn, Lancashire, with every installation carried out by our own in-house team.

That team is DBS checked as standard. We are a Constructionline Silver Member and a CHAS Accredited Contractor.

We also tell you plainly what fits. If your playground cannot take a full court with proper run-off, we say so at survey and show the half court or key that will work. Stephen Draper, headteacher at Banks Methodist Primary School in Southport, said we were “honest and open about what would work”.

Every design on this page has a published guide price, from five shooting spots to a four-sport court. The survey, the scaled design and a detailed quote are free, with no hidden costs and our price match promise, so book a survey and we will draw a court plan for your playground.