£2.4bn declared to boost England’s schools

The Department for Education has announced a £2.4 billion cash injection to help create 600,000 extra school places and improve or expand thousands of school buildings.

The news comes as councils have they need to create over 230,000 primary and secondary school places nationally between 2017 and 2020. The funding is aimed at providing a further boost to the government’s drive to help create over 600,000 extra places by 2021, which will generate additional capacity to meet local demand.

According to a statement from the DfE, schools, local authorities and academy trusts will receive a share of £1.4 billion to invest in upgrading or improving their school buildings. As part of this, academies and sixth-form colleges throughout the country, will receive a total of £466 million to pay for almost 1,500 vital school building work projects.

The move is part of the government’s Plan for Britain strategy, in which it wants every child to have access to a ‘good’ school place, giving them the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the future.

The government is also considering wider proposals to ensure school standards continue to rise by creating more ‘good’ places in every part of the country. These proposals include lifting the ban on new grammar schools - on the strict condition they improve the education of other pupils in the system - as well as harnessing the expertise and resources of our universities, and our independent and faith schools.

Education Secretary Justine Greening commented: “Our Plan for Britain is to build a fairer society, with a good school place available for every child.

“This £2.4 billion investment, together with our proposals to create more good school places, will help ensure every young person has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.”