Spending guidance for school capital funding 

An overview of school capital funding, who it’s for and how to spend it

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on gov.uk

The Department for Education 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:

• School condition allocations (SCA): 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
• Devolved formula capital (DFC): which is allocated for individual schools and other eligible institutions to spend on capital projects that meet their own priorities.

School condition funding includes capital allocations for:

• Local authorities and local-authority-maintained schools, including maintained nursery schools.
• Local VA bodies and VA schools.
• Academies, large MATs 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 2023-24 financial year

Schools are eligible for SCAs or the 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, whilst smaller academy trusts, smaller VA bodies and sixth-form colleges are able instead to bid into the CIF.

The condition improvement fund 

CIF-eligible schools have been invited to bid into the fund for 2023-24; these schools’ responsible bodies will not, therefore, receive any SCA funding on their behalf. Schools invited to the CIF should apply for funding there if they have condition investment requirements.

School condition allocations 

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 2022.
• Those open schools (or their predecessor schools) must have had at least 3,000 pupils counted in the spring 2022 census or the 2021-22 individualised learner record.

Academy trusts and VA school bodies are notified by the DfE that they are eligible for SCA each autumn. Eligibility should not be assumed unless it has been confirmed. 

What you can spend it on

You must spend this funding on capital projects, prioritising those that will improve your school estate’s energy efficiency. Where you judge this is not appropriate, based on local circumstances, you have discretion to spend this on other capital projects.

For more information on the purpose of the funding, what you can spend it on and over what time period see the guidance available on condition grants spend.