Press release

Over £450 million investment to improve school buildings

859 academies, sixth-form colleges and voluntary-aided schools will receive funding to improve their school buildings.

• From: Department for Education and Baroness Barran MBE
• Published: 22 May 2023
• Last updated: 22 May 2023 — See all updates

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

Over 1,000 school building improvement projects will receive the green light today as part of plans to boost the condition of the school estate.

859 academies, sixth-form colleges and voluntary-aided schools in every region of the country will receive a share of a £456 million pot created to help refurbish and repair school buildings.

The condition improvement funding will ensure that pupils can learn in safe, warm and energy efficient classrooms.

Overall, the government has committed £1.8 billion of capital funding for the financial year 2023 to 2024 to improve the condition of school buildings – including £1.1 billion for local authorities, large multi-academy trusts and voluntary aided bodies announced in March.

Minister for the School System, Baroness Diana Barran MBE said:

Our Condition Improvement Fund has already completed over 11,000 projects, making a difference to pupils and teachers across the country. These projects help to create safer learning environments that make a difference to the quality of education for pupils.

It’s hugely important that every school has access to high-quality learning facilities and these funding allocations will make sure that responsible bodies can start to plan ahead and get projects started to replace roofs, boilers and windows – so pupils and teachers can learn and work in a comfortable space.

The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 to support the government’s priority for schools to have safe, well-maintained facilities that support a high-quality education for pupils.   

The announcement follows on from 239 new school buildings confirmed in December as part of the Schools Rebuilding Programme, with 400 out of 500 schools and sixth-form colleges now been selected for rebuilds through the 10-year programme.

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Published 22 May 2023
Last updated 22 May 2023 + show all updates

1. 22 May 2023

   Added a link to the condition improvement funding allocations.

2. 22 May 2023

   First published.