London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 04, 2025

Headteachers fight for funds to shore up England’s dilapidated classrooms

Headteachers fight for funds to shore up England’s dilapidated classrooms

Hundreds of schools are queueing for cash to replace leaky roofs and failing heating. Yet each year only 50 will get money to rebuild
When it rains, the pupils at Wales high school, south Yorkshire, know to look out for numerous obstacles as they move around the building - buckets, lots of buckets.

“On a rainy day, it’s commonplace to see a dozen buckets around the school,” said headteacher Pepe Di’Iasio. “You can’t do anything long term. We’re just patching over the roof and doing the various things that we can. We have flat roofs, asbestos throughout the place and an old energy system that uses heavy amounts. We have a building that we heat up every day and the heating goes straight up out of the roof.”

Inspectors have told him that his school, in Kiveton Park, near Rotherham, is among the bottom 200 in terms of its condition. Yet with only 50 schools accepted for the government’s school rebuilding plan each year, most of those will have to wait.

“When you consider the increased energy costs at the moment, that’s waiting another year when energy costs have increased by over 100% and students are in inadequate buildings,” Di’Iasio said.

When the Labour MP for York Central, Rachael Maskell, visited a local outstanding school, she was amazed at what she was shown. Education at All Saints Roman Catholic school is highly regarded, but Maskell was left in no doubt that it was no environment for teaching.

“Music takes place in an old aircraft hangar, which is freezing cold or boiling hot in the summer,” she said. “You’ve got the gym, where feet are going through the floors. There are issues with water ingress. It’s a place with a fantastic history, but for a modern school today, it doesn’t serve that purpose.”

The school is also among those to have made a bid for funding. Yet while a lucky few will be successful, it is now clear that both teachers across the country and figures within Whitehall believe a far bigger pot of money is needed.

Education figures track the problems back to big cuts to the budgets for school buildings back in 2010.

“When I took over 13 years ago, we had real problems,” said Paul Gosling, headteacher at Exeter Road community primary school in Exmouth, Devon. “We had a pitched roof and water running down three of the classroom walls when it rained.

“It was a sorry state, there were bits of asbestos in places, making it difficult to do any remedial work. The whole roof needed a replacement. We were given a quote of £700,000 for it. We used to have about £45,000 capital funding, but in 2010, that was reduced. Our £45,000 went down to £7,000 – I did say to my governors that we’ve got to save up for 100 years, then we can do the roof.”

When water started running over electricity boxes and the school sought help from the local MP, it was granted funds for rebuilding work, which was finished last year. But as regional branch secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, he is aware of many other schools that haven’t been so lucky.

“One school has three temporary classrooms that are rotting and falling apart, and not fit for 21st century education. Devon has a stock of 300-odd schools. In a two-year period, we were only one of four schools getting that sort of major investment. There’s no way that system of pooling the money is going to address the needs that we’ve got. There are many schools that are falling into some real disrepair.”

The bill for school repairs certainly seems to be growing. Last year, an official audit found that schools in England face a repair bill of more than £11bn, almost double some previous estimates.

Several teachers also pointed out that the current system for funding repairs was inefficient. Schools often spent money patching up their buildings, shortly before they were finally granted funding for a rebuild. They said schools should be told about funding awards further in advance.

Maskell said that she was aware of other schools in her constituency facing similar problems to All Saints. She, too, said that spiking energy costs were making the situation even more urgent.

“Many have old heating systems. With the cost of living going up, you’re going to end up heating up York – and you’re going to pay for it.

“All Saints is a fantastic school. It does remarkably well and has a reputation for caring and supporting its pupils. You just think, if it had a decent school environment, too, what more could be achieved there,” Maskell said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
×