Consultation launched for the School Rebuilding Programme

September 8, 2021 Adam Richards

The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a consultation inviting views on its approach to prioritising schools for future places in the School Rebuilding Programme.

The School Rebuilding Programme was announced in June 2020 to carry out major rebuilding and refurbishment projects at 500 schools and sixth form colleges in England. The funding is to be distributed nationally over a 10-year period and the investment will be prioritised based on the condition of the buildings.

The first 100 schools have already been announced and the consultation seeks to gather views on how to prioritise schools for the remainder of the programme. The consultation, full details of which can be found here, is open for comments until 8 October 2021.

The first 50 schools in the programme were announced in February 2021 and the second set of 50 schools announced in July 2021 and were prioritised either because:

they have buildings of specific construction types that require replacement
their buildings have the highest condition need, identified in data collected in the Condition Data Collection and verified through collecting additional condition information

The primary, secondary, special and alternative provision schools named on the list will be revamped into “modern, energy-efficient environments providing new facilities, from classrooms and science labs, to sports halls and dining rooms”, according to the Department for Education (DfE).

Applying for the School Rebuilding Programme

There will be opportunities in future prioritisation rounds for schools and academies to send in details of buildings which they believe should be prioritised in future rounds. This is likely to be according to criteria which mean that the building condition needs more urgent attention.

Completing applications, gathering evidence and presenting the best possible case can be complex and time consuming.

Qualified chartered building surveyors for education, such as Surveyors for Education, can ease the burden with the professional support to help you create an optimum learning environment.