Education leaders have hit out at a ‘North-South divide’ in the state of school buildings after a report highlighted poor conditions in the region’s classrooms.
Last month the National Audit Office (NAO) warned that about 700,000 children in England attend schools requiring major repairs following years of underfunding, with poor conditions directly affecting pupil attainment and teacher retention. Around 24,000 school buildings, or 38% of the total, are currently beyond their estimated design lifespan, the report found.
And though greater levels of need have been identified in the North and the Midlands, official data shows that applications for school improvement funding from those areas are less likely to be approved.
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The data from the Department for Education on its Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) found that 56 schools applied for funding, with only 15 being successful. The region had the lowest levels of successful bids, with only 26.8% being approved compared to a national average of 41.4%.
A number of school leaders in the region say they are concerned that their inability to contribute financially to the project hampered their bid, and that they were are being penalised for part of smaller school trusts or having budget deficits.
Chris Zarraga, director of Schools North East, which represents more than 1,150 schools around the region, said: “Schools in our region have been hit the hardest by the pandemic and its aftermath. Additionally, schools are facing a crisis in recruitment and retention, combined with significant rising pressure on budgets.
“If the Government is serious about ‘levelling-up’, then it is vital that the basic needs of schools, such as the condition of buildings and estates, is met. It is concerning that the school estate is currently in such poor condition and that North East schools are finding it so difficult to access the funding needed to ensure their buildings are safe for students.”
Last month the National Audit Office said that the Government did not have sufficient information to manage “critical” risks to the safety of pupils and staff arising from a deterioration in the condition of school buildings. A major cause of concern was the prevalence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which is prone to failure and was regularly used between the 1950s and mid-1990s.
At the time, Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It is perfectly clear that the Government has made a conscious decision to deprioritise education over the past 14 years and the deterioration of the school estate is one of the results of this mindset.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Nothing is more important than the safety of pupils and teachers which is why we have been significantly investing in transforming schools up and down the country. We are investing in 500 projects for new and refurbished school buildings through our School Rebuilding Programme, with 39 schools in the North East already selected to benefit from major refurbishment or rebuilding.
“On top of this, we have allocated over £15bn since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8bn committed for 2023-24, for example helping North East schools carry out nearly 450 Condition Improvement Fund projects in the region.”
