An overview of the Department for Education updated guidance on school capital funding, including who it’s for, current and past allocations, how it’s calculated and spending guidance
The Department for Education (DfE) allocates funding each year to help maintain and improve the condition of school buildings and grounds. In any given financial year, eligible schools can access funding through one of:
school condition allocations (SCA), with funds paid to eligible bodies responsible for maintaining school buildings;
the condition improvement fund (CIF), a bidding round with funds paid directly to single academy trusts, small multi-academy trusts (MATs), small voluntary aided (VA) bodies and sixth-form colleges.
In addition, devolved formula capital (DFC) is allocated for individual schools, and other eligible institutions, to spend on capital projects that meet their own priorities.
Who the funding is for
School condition funding includes capital allocations for:
local authorities and local-authority-maintained schools, including maintained nursery schools;
local voluntary-aided bodies and voluntary-aided schools;
academies and large multi-academy trusts and sponsors;
sixth-form colleges;
special schools not maintained by the local authority;
special post-16 institutions with eligible students.
Eligibility for SCA for the 2022 to 2023 financial year
Schools, and those responsible for school buildings, are eligible for either SCA or CIF depending on their size and type.
Local authorities, larger MATs and larger VA school bodies receive direct SCA to invest in priorities across the schools for which they are responsible. Smaller academy trusts, smaller VA bodies and sixth-form colleges are, instead, able to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF).
CIF eligible schools have been invited to bid into the fund for 2022 to 2023. If a school has been invited to bid for CIF in the 2022 to 2023 financial year, their responsible body will not receive any SCA funding on their behalf. The school should, therefore, apply for funding from CIF if they have condition investment requirements.
To receive direct SCA, multi-academy trusts and VA bodies must meet both eligibility criteria:
the trust or VA body must have had five or more open schools at the start of September 2021;
those open schools (or their predecessor schools) must have had at least 3,000 pupils counted in the spring 2021 census or the 2020-to-2021 individualised learner record (ILR).
For special and alternative-provision schools (including pupil referral units), the DfE now multiply the pupil count by 4.5 for the purposes of SCA eligibility for the 2022 to 2023 financial year – for example, the DfE would now count a MAT with 1,000 pupils in special schools as having 4,500 pupils. This reflects the fact that these schools tend to have lower pupil numbers for their size, and receive more condition funding per pupil.
For eligibility, the DfE count all pupils that are sole, dual-main, or dual-subsidiary enrolled. If pupils are registered at more than one institution the DfE divide the count by the number of institutions that the pupil is registered at – for example, pupils dual registered at a mainstream school and a pupil referral unit (PRU) would have their count divided by two at both institutions.
For nursery schools and sixth forms the DfE use the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) pupils rather than headcount.
In autumn 2021, the DfE notified academy trusts and VA school bodies that are eligible for SCA in the financial year 2022 to 2023. Eligibility should not be assumed unless it has been confirmed.
All of these institution types are eligible for devolved formula capital.
Funding allocations for the 2021 to 2022 financial year
Capital funding is based on financial years. For the latest funding amounts see:
The calculations have been revised for 2021 to 2022 to reflect the results of the Condition Data Collection, which completed in 2019, and which provides high-level information on the condition of state-funded schools in England.
What you can spend it on
See condition grants spend guidance for guidance on the purpose of the fund, what you can spend it on and over what time period.
The healthy pupil’s capital fund was a one-year fund for the 2018 to 2019 financial year only.
In the 2018 budget the government announced an extra £400m of capital funding for schools in England for the 2018 to 2019 financial year. See the additional capital funding page on the National Archives for more information.
In 2020 the Prime Minister announced an additional £560m for repairs and upgrades to school buildings, on top of funding already allocated for the 2020 to 2021 financial year.
Good estate management
The DfE have published guidance on good estate management. This sets out the policies, processes and documents that schools, local authorities, academy trusts and other responsible bodies should consider in order to manage their estates effectively. They should review the fundamentals of good estate management and use the self-assessment tool to assess their organisation’s approach. Further tools are also available to help make sure their organisation has the right skills, processes and policies.
Responsible bodies must ensure they secure value for money through appropriate procurement routes. For large projects, the school buildings’ construction framework is available for use and should be considered as part of project development planning.
The Trust Network
The Trust Network is a group of academy trusts who share information and expertise on managing and maintaining school premises. The Trust Network is led by volunteers from a diverse range of MATs from across England and membership is open to all independently-run, state-funded schools. More than 250 MATs and single academy trusts are currently registered as members. Go to The Trust Network website to join the network for free and find out more about their events.
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