That's a cute little lathe. But then again, their rockets are small.
If you think that's cute, you should take a look at the adept lathe which started production in 1930 or those like it such as wizard.
Absolute diddy things which regularly comes up in old model engineering magazines.
I guess the school doesn't have a high power or three step plug so they need to rely for a tool that works with a normal power socket.
And the big lathes are quite stationary.
I don't know about typical school wiring but you must be able to get reasonably heavy lathes running on standard wiring.
My Myford ML7 runs a 1/2HP motor which doesn't draw anywhere close to UK mains capacity.
Also if only a diameter issue, you can find weird models that raise the headstock or make an attachment.
There's always a way, not student safe though lol.