London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Government urged to act as nine in 10 schools in England in need of repair

Government urged to act as nine in 10 schools in England in need of repair

Government urged to tackle crumbling school buildings as National Education Union expresses shock

The government needs to urgently tackle England’s crumbling school buildings, teachers have said, as figures show nine in 10 schools have at least one part of their buildings needing repair or replacement.

The National Education Union, which represents more than half a million teachers, said it was “shocking” that of 20,000 school buildings inspected between 2017 and 2019, a total of 19,442 had at least one building component that had “major defects” or was “not operating as intended”.

The union added that the £1bn the government is investing into what it called “state of the art” refurbishments of 61 schools was “a drop in the ocean”.

Analysis by the Liberal Democrats also found more than 5% of building components, such as roofs, windows, doors, electrics and light fittings, across all of England’s school estates – 240,000 items – were found to be defective, so were graded “poor” or “bad” by surveyors.

Officials estimate that it would cost £11.4bn to carry out all the necessary repairs.

The City of Durham was the constituency with the highest percentage of school building components – almost 12% – graded poor or bad.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said it was a ‘shocking fact’ that 90% of school buildings in England require major repairs.


In the South West Norfolk constituency of Liz Truss, the Conservative leadership candidate and foreign secretary, more than 91% of schools had at least one building component graded poor, ie exhibiting major defects. Fourteen schools had at least one component graded bad, requiring immediate replacement.

In Richmond in North Yorkshire, the constituency of Truss’s leadership rival, Rishi Sunak, the situation was similar with 91% of schools having at least one “poor” grade component. Meanwhile, 21 schools contained at least one building component graded “bad”.

The figures were published by the Department for Education in response to a parliamentary question tabled by the Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, Munira Wilson.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said it was a “shocking fact” that 90% of school buildings in England require major repairs.

She said: “All children deserve to learn in high quality, safe and comfortable buildings. But in 2022-23, capital funding is £1.9bn less per year in real terms than it was in the last years of the Labour government.

“Capital spending was the largest cut to education and was imposed immediately after the 2010 election. If the government had not cut Labour’s school rebuilding programme, £2bn more would have been spent on school and college buildings.

“The government’s recent announcement that £1bn would be invested in the rebuilding or refurbishing 61 schools is a drop in the ocean.

“The government needs to show much more ambition and urgently address these issues in a strategic way to demonstrate that they really believe in investing in our pupils’ futures.”

Wilson said: “These shocking statistics show that the Conservatives have neglected our school buildings for far too long.

“When Liz Truss was in the Treasury, dozens of schools in her own constituency needed urgent repairs and before Rishi Sunak quit as chancellor, the government cut this year’s school maintenance budget in real terms.

“Liberal Democrats believe that education is an investment in our children’s future. Rather than bickering about the past, the Conservative leadership candidates should explain how they will protect schools from sky-high energy bills coming this winter.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said the figures were not new, adding: “The safety of pupils and staff is paramount. We have one of the largest and most comprehensive condition data collection programmes in Europe, and this helps us to assess and manage risk across the estate.

“Buildings where there is a risk to health and safety will always be prioritised and we have allocated over £13bn since 2015 to improve the condition of school buildings and facilities, including £1.8bn this financial year. In addition, our new school rebuilding programme will transform the learning environment at 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition or with potential safety issues.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×