Making the most of your School Condition Allocation

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If you are the School Business Manager or CFO of a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) with at least five academies and more that 3,000 pupils under your care, are you prepared to receive your School Condition Allocation (SCA)?

Formulaic but flexible

SCA is a formulaic allocation from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for qualifying MATs to keep school buildings in good condition. It can be used for buying or improving assets owned or leased long term by trusts.

The ESFA collects data on the condition of every school in an eligible MAT and allocates funds based on aggregating a notional allocation for each academy. However, the trust is free to deploy those funds among its academies in line with its own priorities. 

Deciding priorities

SCA should be prioritised to ensure the safety and good working order of your premises:

  • Improving poor building condition
  • Ensuring building compliance
  • Improving energy efficiency
  • Tackling major health and safety issues
  • Allowing successful academies to expand their intake

Trusts must report to the ESFA on how their funding is used throughout the financial year, so you need a properly prioritised plan showing how you've allocated it across your estate.

Therefore it's important that your MAT has the following structures in place:

  • An updated strategy for property maintenance and expansion
  • An updated record of survey information of the condition of all of your estate
  • A costed list of priority projects
  • A proper system to manage and administer your SCA run by trained staff.

You should also consider how to make the most of your allocation by working with other MATs to reduce costs, pool resources and improve procurement efficiency through bulk purchasing.

S2e helps you to prioritise your SCA spending

Surveyors to Education (S2e) can help you with allocation prioritisation by working through condition surveys for all of your buildings. 

S2e is a specialist premises planning and funding consultancy for the Academy and MAT sector. We identify your short, medium and long term defect priorities against new building ambitions and manage resulting improvement projects.

To ensure you prioritise and manage your SCA for maximum benefit, contact S2e or email us at enquire@s2e.org.uk.

Adam RichardsSurveyors to Education