While Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) is a very welcome resource for schools and academies needing to make urgent repairs to unsafe buildings, only a small proportion of the fund is available for expansion projects.

“As for past CIF application rounds, we expect the funding for this category of application to be heavily oversubscribed,” the Department for Education is warning about allocations for 2022-23.

It is therefore crucial to ensure your application is supported by watertight evidence.

Who is eligible for CIF expansion funding?

CIF money is available to address expansion issues across high-performing applicants with fewer than 2,000 pupils.

You will need data on demand or overcrowding, an independent condition survey and be prepared to submit detailed information to ensure that costs and delivery timelines are realistic and robust.

Experienced chartered surveyors for education such as S2e can assist on all aspects.

There are a few key points to consider:

Increasing admissions: CIF expansion funding will not be given to schools and academies seeking to expand admissions due to demographic growth. They should instead seek Basic Need funding from their local authority.

Significant change: Academy trusts must submit a significant change application to their Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) if a significant expansion will increase the overall building capacity of the academy to provide places for more than 30 additional pupils.

Growth and demand: You need to provide historic, existing and projected annual data for growth and demand for your school or academy. You will also need the gross internal floor area (GIFA) of the whole school (m2), how this relates to the Government’s Building Bulletin regulations, and the impact your expansion project will have.

Evidence needed for CIF expansion projects

CIF assessors will rate Project Need as up to 60 points, out of 100 points in total to judge your application (Project Cost and Project Planning make up the remaining 40 points).

Evidence of Project Need should ideally include:

• Ofsted or other reports on impact of facilities on teaching and learning

• demand data, independent evidence of overcrowding

• explanation or evidence of any exceptional circumstances.

DfE will take into account the proportion of the school’s pupils who are from a disadvantaged background when assessing the need for expansion that creates additional places. This is to support the creation of new places in high-performing schools with a high relative proportion of disadvantaged pupils. For added-places projects, it will also assess cost per place.

Evidence should also include:

• An independent condition survey/consultant report or detailed survey and specialist reports, or an extract of a CDC (Condition Data Collection) survey / PDS (Property Data Survey), depending on the size and scale of the project

• Photographs

• Letters about compliance issues e.g. from fire officers or electrical engineers.

How CIF expansion applications are scored

Applications are scored according to the following four criteria:

1. Popularity/demand (for overcrowding projects this includes severity of overcrowding)

   To score maximum marks there needs to be a very high demand and for overcrowding projects independent evidence of the impact of overcrowding. For academies demand is based on % 1st and 2nd preferences of PAN (Published Admission Number). You will score 0 if there is low demand (preferences less than 110% of PAN) and no evidence of overcrowding

2. Performance

   To score maximum marks you need to be Ofsted outstanding and have attainment or progress at or above national average. You will score low marks if you are Ofsted good but attainment and progress are below national average, or where the school is below Ofsted good.

3. Capacity constraints

   For maximum marks you must have a severe shortage of capacity based on your funding agreement, net capacity data and current number on roll.

4. Deprivation

   You will score low marks where you have a low relative proportion of pupils from a disadvantaged background.

For further information on CIF funding, contact us on  01530 877969 or email enquire@s2e.org.uk.