The National Audit Office has stated that restoring school buildings in England to a satisfactory condition will cost £14 billion. This revelation comes in the wake of a new survey conducted by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), which found that half of England's schools are suffering from widespread disrepair.
Survey Findings
According to the NAHT poll, half of headteachers report that parts of their school are either out of use or unfit for purpose due to leaks, damp, mould, asbestos, ageing boilers, and malfunctioning fire doors. Among those whose schools are affected, nearly three-quarters (73%) have toilet blocks that are either closed (8%) or not fit for purpose (65%). One headteacher lamented, "I have toilets that urgently need replacement, and I do not have the funds to do so. There is a collapsed drain and every time it rains the playground is flooded."
Additionally, two in five (41%) headteachers say that facilities reserved for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send), including dedicated classrooms, sensory rooms, and outdoor spaces, are unfit for use. This comes at a time when the government is proposing reforms to the Send system, requiring mainstream schools to expand and improve provisions for children with special needs.
Of those with buildings unfit for purpose, almost two-thirds (64%) report that their playgrounds are unsuitable (56%) or closed (8%). Another headteacher shared, "We have rooms that are closed to children, walls covered in mould, a leaking roof, sinking floorboards, unfit windows, and a condemned playground."
Headteachers' Concerns
The poll, though small with just 326 participants, paints a vivid picture of the challenges facing school leaders. One school leader confessed to lying awake at night worrying about fire doors, stating, "I would say around 80% are non-compliant." Another respondent said, "I have been screaming about the poor state of my boilers, but nothing happened until they totally stopped working and I had to shut the school as it was too cold."
Almost all headteachers who participated (96%) said they do not receive sufficient capital funding to maintain their school buildings. The National Audit Office has estimated that £14 billion is needed to restore school buildings in England to a satisfactory condition.
Union and Government Response
Paul Whiteman, the NAHT general secretary, commented, "We know the UK government inherited a school estate in a mess, and we recognise there is additional investment planned through the new 10-year estates strategy. This survey shows the sheer scale of the challenge ahead, especially with the prospect of events in the Middle East fuelling inflation."
NAHT members will debate a motion at their annual conference in Belfast later this week, calling on the union's national executive to lobby the government to fully fund essential capital expenditure across all state schools in England.
A Department for Education spokesperson responded, "We are already turning the page on years of decline in the school estate – fixing a legacy of neglect, committing to removing Raac for good, and delivering a decade of national renewal. Schools have had to patch and mend buildings for too long – that ends under this government. For the first time, we are providing long-term investment, rising to almost £3 billion per year over the next decade, to improve the condition of our schools and colleges."
