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School buildings: Survey reveals poor condition of many classrooms

Facilities School finance Government policy
Too hot in summer, too cold in winter and with broken windows and leaking ceilings – a survey of teachers has revealed the poor condition of many classrooms.
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School leaders have blasted “inadequate” capital investment and “tortuous funding systems” that leave schools forced to “scrabble for cash” via bidding processes.

Survey findings published by the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) during its annual conference in Liverpool last week asked 8,585 teachers and school leaders about the condition of the last classroom they had taught in.

A majority (57%) said that poor ventilation left their room too hot in summer, while 28% said inadequate heating meant it was often too cold.

Broken windows and doors were common (19%), while 15% said they had ceilings that leaking and 19% had poor electric fittings affecting plugs, lights and the operation of computers.

Of the respondents, only 27% reported no problems with their classrooms.

Last year, a damning report from the National Audit Office warned of a “significant funding shortfall” in capital investment which it said has contributed to the “deterioration of the school estate”.

It judged that an estimated 700,000 students are learning in schools that need major rebuilding or refurbishment work.

The NAO said that of the 64,000 or so individual school buildings in England, 38% (around 24,000) are “beyond their estimated initial design life”.

In the report, which was published in June, the NAO warned that thousands of schools still contain asbestos, including 3,600 where asbestos could be susceptible to deterioration. It also raised warnings about the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) – a precursor to the crisis that came to a head in September.

Geoff Barton, ASCL general secretary, referenced the NAO report and the new survey findings in his address to ASCL members during the conference.

He said: “Not only has capital investment been wholly inadequate but tortuous funding systems mean many schools have to scrabble for cash through a bidding process – just to afford the cost of basic repairs and maintenance. It is surely obvious that government has to do better than this – that learning environments have to be fit for learning. These are political choices.”

Last year, the NAO raised specific concerns about underfunding. It said that the DfE, in 2020, had asked the Treasury for £5.3bn a year as the capital funding required to maintain schools and “mitigate the most serious risks of building failure”, but the Treasury had only allocated an average £3.1bn a year.

Between 2016 and 2022, the DfE spent an average £2.3bn a year, the NAO report notes. In 2023/24, the DfE says it has allocated £1.8bn for “school maintenance and repair”.

The NAO was clear: “In recent years, funding for school buildings has not matched the amount DfE estimates it needs, contributing to the estate’s deterioration.”

Previous research by the House of Commons Library revealed that overall DfE capital spending has declined by around 37% in cash terms and 50% in real terms between 2009/10 and 2021/22 (Danechi & Long, 2023).

A report from the Committee of Public Accounts (CPA, 2023) in November warned that the £1.3bn a year was only enough to rebuild or refurbish 50 schools a year.

The DfE School Rebuilding Programme was unveiled in June 2020 but by March 2023, the CPA report said that it had delivered only one project compared with a forecast four and had awarded 24 contracts compared with a forecast 83.

The DfE had considered upgrades under the programme to 1,200 schools in the most need with safety issues or in poor condition, which includes problems with roofs, windows or heating systems. However, just 500 schools in total will be selected for the School Rebuilding Programme over 10 years – and now the schools worst affected by the concrete crisis will take up a lot of these slots.

The latest DfE figures – from February 2024 – show that 234 education settings in England have confirmed RAAC with 119 of these needing one or more buildings rebuilt or refurbished.

In his address, which is his last before he is due to step down as general secretary in April, Mr Barton offered politicians a solution to the funding issue.

Population estimates predict a fall in pupil numbers of 500,000 in the next five years and Mr Barton urged politicians to take advantage of this to boost school funding.

He explained: “It adds up to a huge – multi-billion-pound – saving. So, instead of raking this money back into the Treasury – there is a golden opportunity to put education on a more sustainable footing.

“Use this money to raise the rate of per-pupil funding, and the Pupil Premium. It’s a policy that costs nothing – or at least nothing extra – but it would make a world of difference to children and young people, and particularly those from disadvantaged homes.”