London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

PM promising £1bn to rebuild crumbling schools

Funding of £1bn for 50 major school building projects in England is being promised by the prime minister.

There will also be a further £560m for repairs to crumbling school buildings.

"It's important we lay the foundations for a country where everyone has the opportunity to succeed," said Boris Johnson.

But head teachers said the National Audit Office had identified a backlog of £6.7bn repairs needed across England's 21,000 schools.

A programme of rebuilding, refurbishment and repairs is being launched by the prime minister on Monday.

It will tackle the problems of ageing, dilapidated school buildings and also the need to create extra spaces for rising numbers of secondary school pupils.

The 50 school building projects, which will be identified later in the year, will start from September 2021, in a 10-year programme with £1bn in funding.

There will be an extra £560m for upgrades and repairs to schools for the next academic year - and £200m for improving further education colleges, which was previously announced, will be brought forward.

"This major new investment will make sure our schools and colleges are fit for the future, with better facilities and brand new buildings," said Mr Johnson.

Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union, welcomed a "significant step in the right direction" - but said "far too many children are studying in buildings that are not fit for purpose".

He warned that repairs were "desperately needed and long overdue" - and highlighted the concerns raised three years ago by the public spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, - saying that the problems would have "worsened" since then.

In a report from 2017, the NAO warned of deteriorating school buildings - and said it would cost £6.7bn to bring buildings to a "satisfactory" level and a further £7.1bn to bring them up to a "good condition".

It reported that many school buildings were "near the end of their useful lives" - and that major defects were likely to increase.

Following that 2017 NAO warning, the government announced £2.4bn for school repairs and extra places.

Paul Whiteman of the National Association of Head Teachers backed the extra funding after a "decade of underinvestment" and warned that school funding must "never be allowed to fall into such a perilous state again".

Layla Moran, education spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats, said the promises were "spin over substance" and that schools needed "urgent investment" rather than "vague numbers pulled out of thin air".

The Department for Education says the funding for improving buildings is part of a wider investment in schools - including £650m for catch-up funding after the coronavirus and £350m for a tutoring service.

There has also been a commitment to increase school spending by £7.1bn by 2022-23 - which the Institute for Fiscal Studies says will reverse previous cuts to school budgets.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: "Replacing and upgrading poor condition school and college buildings with modern, energy efficient designs will give our students and teachers the environment they deserve, and support them to maximise their potential."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×