Hundreds of school buildings across the UK are set for an overhaul as part of a government -funded scheme aimed at improving facilities for pupils over the next decade.
The latest set of 239 schools have been announced in the School Rebuilding Programme, which will upgrade buildings to make them more energy efficient.
Classrooms, sports halls and dining rooms are among the buildings set to be upgraded and replaced as part of the programme over the next ten years.
The announcement brings the number of projects identified within the programme to 400, with previous announcements made in three instalments from February 2021 to July of this year.
Another hundred schools due for a facelift are expected to be announced in due course.
It was not clear how much money had been earmarked for the project in its entirety.
The Department for Education plans to rejuvenate 500 schools over a decade, but it was revealed back in July that 1,105 schools had applied for the programme over a four-week application window early in 2022.
The limitations of the project meant more than half - 54.8 per cent - of applicants would miss out, Schools Week reported in July.
It comes after the DfE previously admitted that £11.4 billion of repairs are needed across England.
Schools considered to be in the worst condition with buildings in urgent need of replacement are prioritised in the School Rebuilding Programme.
Safety risks were assessed by the government and schools where there was potential to cause significant harm to pupils and/or staff were classed as the highest priority.
The government website reads: “The School Rebuilding Programme carries out major rebuilding and refurbishment projects at schools and sixth-form colleges across England. Projects are prioritised according to the condition of buildings taking into account things like how poor the fabric and structure of the buildings are.
“All buildings in the School Rebuilding Programme are built to the latest construction standards, designed to be net-zero in operation and more resilient to the effects of climate change. New buildings will provide modern facilities to support a world-class education ranging from classrooms and science labs to sports halls and dining rooms.”
Publication of the latest set of schools included in the scheme comes after the Department for Education annual report flagged that it was now “very likely” that “one or more blocks in some schools” will collapse.
This rose from “likely” last summer.
The crisis for blocks built from 1945 to 1970 is “worsening”, the report said.
It says 500 school buildings will be rebuilt in a decade, and helpfully, it reassures readers: “There are no open schools or college buildings where we know of an imminent risk to life.”
But Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Eighteen months from the Department of Education knowing that school buildings were ‘very likely’ to collapse and six months since these buildings were revealed to pose ‘a risk to life’, Ministers will still not tell parents where dangerous school buildings are.
“This Conservative Government is risking its most basic duty: to keep our children safe from harm.
“The Secretary of State needs to come to the House of Commons as soon as possible and tell parents where these buildings are and that they are urgently being made safe.”
The latest schools included in the School Rebuilding Programme can be found on the Government website here.
