Schools rebuilding programme

We welcome the recent pledge by the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to provide a £1bn schools rebuilding programme over a 10-year investment plan for upgrades and refurbishments. This is the first major schools rebuilding programme since 2014 and will make sure the nation’s schools and colleges are fit for the future. It is part of the prime minister’s plan to provide a world-class education for children and to help the economy bounce back from this year’s coronavirus crisis.

Education furniture manufactured in the UK

Our Education furniture range has been specified for school building and refurbishment projects throughout the UK, including nurseries, primary and secondary schools, SEN schools, colleges and universities. We have been manufacturing education furniture at our facility in Broadstairs, Kent, since 1982 and our experience puts us in a unique position to be involved in this schools rebuilding programme.

School furniture for Headington Girls School

We have recently been selected by main contractor E W Beard to manufacture furniture for Headington Girls School in Oxford, in a £30,000 contract. This is for 45 units and 100 metres of worktop in 11 classrooms. The work will start in November 2020.

Education sector customers include:

• Yateley Community School, Hampshire
• Warwick Preparatory School
• Farnborough College
• Channing School, London
• University of Wales
• Clore Shalom School, Hertfordshire
• Highfield School, Eastbourne

About the schools rebuilding programme

The rebuilding programme will see the first 50 projects announced later this year and construction work start in September 2021. They are expected to mainly focus on secondary schools, which is where the growth in pupil numbers is going to be over the next five years. Money for the rest of the nine years of the scheme will be set out at the next government spending review, which is expected this autumn.

Johnson has also announced £560m more for school repairs and upgrades, in addition to £1.4bn in school condition funding already committed in 2020-21.

The majority of school buildings in England are more than 40 years old, with 60% of them built before 1976. In a 2017 report, the National Audit Office said that “deterioration in the condition of the school estate is a significant risk to long-term value for money”.

More information on the schools rebuilding plan can be found on the government website.

Are you involved in specifying furniture for a school rebuilding or refurbishment project?

Please take a look at our range of education furniture here.

Read case studies about projects we’ve completed for Farnborough College and other education facilities.