Good Estate Management for Schools (GEMS)

When the DfE and ESFA published their GEMS online resource tool in April 2018, their core objective was to help school leaders, and those with responsibility for the day to day running of their estate, to develop the optimum learning environment for their pupils.

GEMS sets out the policies, processes and documents that schools, academies and MATs should consider when managing their estates and emphasises the direct link between strategic estate management, maintenance and improvement, and increasing levels of pupil attainment.

Understanding the condition of your estate

Prior to obtaining or allocating funds to undertake improvements, the first step is to fully understand the current condition, utilisation and sufficiency of the land and buildings.

Understanding the condition of the estate will help you identify what improvements are needed, their priority and provide an estimation of cost. A good starting point is to review your Property Data Survey (PDS) or more recent Condition Data Collection (CDC) Survey, both of which provided high level information on the condition of your buildings and set out the priority of capital works required.

However, neither the PDS or CDC programs were designed to replace a detailed condition survey carried out by a qualified Chartered Building Surveyor. Condition surveys are more technical, intrusive assessments that provide a detailed, systematic, uniform and objective assessment of the state of the buildings.

Sources of funding for estate improvement

Each year the Government, through the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) make funding and grants available to academies and schools for the capital required to complete their projects. They include:

Devolved Formula Capital Funding (DFC)

Direct capital funding is calculated on a formulaic basis for academies and schools to maintain their buildings and grounds and fund small-scale capital projects, including ICT.

Condition Improvement Funding (CIF)

In 2019, the ESFA made a total of £433 million available for 1,412 projects across 1,209 academies and sixth forms across the country. Operating as an annual bidding round for academies and smaller MATs (with less than 5 academies or 3,000 pupils), it addresses significant condition needs but also supports a small proportion of expansion projects.

School Condition Allocation (SCA)

Funds are automatically granted to eligible MATs (with at least 5 academies and/or more than 3,000 pupils) to keep academy buildings in good condition, carry out priority maintenance and keeping buildings safe and in good working order. In 2019-20, £237 million was made available.

There are additional funds available for condition improvement such as the Urgent Capital Support (UCS) Fund, operating leases and Section 106 funding all of which can be procured to support improvement and expansion projects.

Tips on successfully delivering on a capital project

When funding has been allocated or obtained it is very important that you have the right skills at your disposal in order to complete the project successfully. The GEMS guidance recommends the use of a Chartered Building Surveyor to provide a detailed project specification, cost estimate and project plan.

Having a qualified professional who understands the school’s estate strategy will ensure that all project requirements are documented and understood and that a construction process has been developed that complies with all construction, design and management (CDM) regulations.

At S2e we passionately believe that we are on a premises journey together with our clients and if you would like to talk to us about any upcoming projects or funding bids, regardless of where you are on your estates journey, then please contact Surveyors to Education on 01530 276127 or email enquire@s2e.org.uk.