Schools and colleges in England will receive £2.5 billion to upgrade their buildings and create extra places, the UK Government will announce today. The announcement comes after unions said action must be taken by the Government to ensure deteriorating school buildings “at risk of collapse” are made safe.
The money consists of a £1.8 billion investment for the 2023-24 financial year to improve the condition of the school estate in England. A further £487 million will be invested to help councils provide additional school places needed for September 2026.
The Government says this will allow thousands of extra primary and secondary school places in good and outstanding schools to be created by then. The money comes on top of the School Rebuilding Programme which the Government says will “transform” buildings at 500 schools across the country over the next decade – with priority given to those in poor condition.
The Government says it has already invested more than £13 billion to improve school buildings since 2015. Alongside this, 146 colleges will benefit from the final phase of the £1.5 billion Further Education Capital Transformation Programme to upgrade buildings and improve campuses.
It is part of a wider programme of Government investment aimed at transforming post-16 education and training, which also includes the rollout of T-levels and £300 million to establish a network of Institutes of Technology. Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Robert Halfon said: “This significant investment will transform school and college buildings across the country so that they are fit for the future and can provide the best education for students, no matter where they live.
“We want every young person to have access to high-quality facilities and learning environments, to gain the skills they need to climb the ladder of opportunity into further study and work, whilst supporting efforts to grow the economy.”
In an open letter to Education Secretary Gillian Keegan in February, seven unions urged the Government to ensure school buildings “at risk of collapse” are made safe. The letter – from the National Education Union (NEU), school leaders’ union NAHT, the NASUWT teaching union, Unison, Unite, GMB and Community – said it is “shocking” that a Department for Education (DfE) report acknowledged some school buildings are at risk of collapse.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said the state of buildings was a “disaster waiting to happen” and “could cost lives” if action was not taken. Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “While we are always pleased to see any investment in schools and colleges, this announcement comes against a background of inadequate funding that has literally left school buildings on the point of collapse.
“Between 2009 and 2022, Department for Education capital spending declined by 50% in real terms, according to a recent House of Commons report. The department’s own reports have identified the risk of ‘the collapse of one or more blocks in some schools’ and put the overall backlog of repairs in England’s schools at £11.4 billion.
“As such, we have to seriously question whether the funding in this latest announcement – which is the result of adding up various funding streams – is anything like enough to meet the needs of an education estate that has been shamefully neglected over the past decade.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “The Government needs to be clear about whether this is actually new money. Sadly, we have been here before only to find that the money being announced has in fact already been allocated previously.
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“While any new money would be a step in the right direction, this falls well short of what is needed after more than a decade of underinvestment. It is truly shocking that we are in a position where the Government itself has said that due to the state of the school estate, the risk of collapse in some school buildings is currently ‘very likely’.
“What we need now is absolute clarity that wherever such risks exist, they will be addressed immediately and that the funding will be made available to do so.”
Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “The Conservatives have already admitted that school buildings are now likely to collapse but parents are still in the dark about where dangerous buildings that pose a risk to children’s lives are situated. Parents won’t fall for the Conservatives governing by three-card trick; it is high time that the Secretary of State tells parents where dangerous buildings are and resolved the ongoing industrial dispute with teachers.”
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