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Written question asked by James McMurdock (Reform UK) on Thursday, 3 April 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 7 April 2025. It was answered by Stephen Morgan (Labour) on Thursday, 10 April 2025 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Schools: Standards

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the quality of (a) buildings and (b) facilities in state secondary schools in England.

Answer

Ensuring schools and colleges have the facilities and buildings they need is a key part of the department’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every young person the best start in life.

The department supports local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided school bodies responsible for the school estate by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes and offering guidance and support. We have increased funding to improve the condition of the estate for the 2025/26 financial year to £2.1 billion, up from £1.8 billion last year. This is in addition to our continued investment in the school rebuilding programme.

From 2021 to 2026, the department’s Condition Data Collection 2 programme is visiting every government-funded school and college in England to collect data about the condition of their buildings. This data will provide a comprehensive picture of the condition of the school estate in England to support our capital funding programmes.

In addition, the department has commissioned new research, due to complete by spring 2026, to better understand the performance of post-war education buildings.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
44077
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Buildings Facilities Standards Schools Secondary education
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk