Schools for the Future Programme
The previous £1.8 billion Schools for the Future Programme will see the construction or refurbishment of 117 schools and will benefit over 60,000 pupils by early 2021. We are providing £1.13 billion; with local authorities contributing £665 million.
Learning Estate Investment Programme
The first phase of the new Learning Estate Investment Programme prioritises schools in need of updating as identified by local authorities, to ensure rapid progress where most required. The programme will benefit around 50,000 pupils across Scotland by the end of the next Parliament. Nine out of ten pupils – almost 635,000 – are being taught in schools classed as being in a good or satisfactory condition. The proportion of schools reported as being in good or satisfactory condition has increased to 89.9%, that is up 1.6% over the last year and 29% since April 2007. Since 2007-08, 958 schools have been built or substantially refurbished. The number of pupils in schools classed as being in poor or bad condition is now at its lowest level since these statistics began. The number has decreased from around 257,000 in 2007 to around 62,000 in 2020.
Learning Estate Strategy
Since 2007, the Scottish Government and local authorities across Scotland have collectively invested around £5bn in Scotland’s Learning Estate. In 2009 the Scottish Government and CoSLA published a joint School Estate Strategy: Building Better Schools. Since then, collectively, we have made great progress in improving the condition of our school estate. In 2018, for the first time, more than 600,000 pupils across Scotland were being educated in schools in good or satisfactory condition. In our colleges and universities, we have invested in new campuses and buildings and have seen the development of facilities which support the learning needs of students and the economy and deliver on our ambitions for carbon reduction. In 2015 the Scottish Government set out a commitment to almost double the funded Early Learning and Childcare entitlement. In 2018, a significant funding package was agreed with CoSLA to deliver a high-quality expansion of our Early learning and Childcare estate. That expansion is now underway and delivery modern state of the art facilities for generations to come.
For more information CLICK HERE.
Colleges & Universities
In January 2020 the new Falkirk Headquarters Campus of Forth Valley College opened its doors to students. The new £78 million, state-of-the-art facility provides the headquarters for the College and offers 21st century learning environments. Scottish Government provides annual capital funding to all Scotland’s colleges and universities for backlog and lifecycle maintenance of its estates, totalling £76.9m in FY 2020- 21. In addition to this annual capital funding, Scottish Government has, for the past three years offered universities loans under the Financial Transactions Programme, to support estate improvement works, including major building refurbishments, energy efficiency measures and installing building mounted renewable power generating technologies. The Financial Transactions allocation for FY 2020-21 is £55m. SG and SFC has taken a range of specific measures to support the sector during the COVID19 crisis, this includes SFC distributing £10m additional capital funding to support economic recovery; and £5m capital support for digital provision. Despite COVID19, throughout 2020 our colleges and universities have continued, where possible, to deliver their capital programmes and continue make plans for future investments in their estates, providing a much needed boost to the construction sector and its supply chain. Most notably being the progress made on the Dunfermline Learning Campus, the site for the new Fife College campus, a £90m capital investment programme that will run through to 2025.
For more information CLICK HERE.
Learning Places Scotland 2-3 June 2021, SEC
Now in its fourth year, Learning Places Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Government (previously known as Education Buildings Scotland) brings together Scotland’s education built environment and policy professionals from early years, schools, colleges and universities, for two days under one roof!
The exhibition and conference are complimentary for those directly employed in early years, schools, colleges, universities, national and local government and other public services in Scotland.
Rates apply for everyone else wishing to attend the exhibition and conference.
Exhibiting at Learning Places Scotland is a unique opportunity to meet and network with Scotland’s Learning Estate professionals. Your products, services and solutions can help them deliver modern state of the art learning facilities for generations to come. For more information go to www.educationbuildings.scot
