A Solution for England’s Crumbling Schools

Image by Balfour Beatty 

Schools in England face a major disrepair crisis. Correspondence between the DfE and the Treasury, widely reported in the press, reveals that crisis isn’t too dramatic a term.

This excerpt from the DfE weekly briefing on March 30 pretty much says it all:

‘School buildings: the deteriorating condition of the school estate continues to be a risk, with condition funding flat for FY 2022-23, some sites a risk-to-life, too many costly and energy-inefficient repairs rather than rebuilds, and rebuild demand x3 supply.’

We’ll leave it to others to talk about responsibility. What we want to focus on are possible solutions that can address the problems urgently and make a significant difference.

Repair or Rebuild?

One part of that quote stands out (apart from the stark warning about ‘risk-to-life’). It’s the bit about ‘too many costly and energy-inefficient repairs’.

It’s understandable how decisions like that get made. There’s a need for rapid action but not the budget to demolish and rebuild. And maybe the perception is that a rebuild will take too long to deliver given the urgency of the problem.

The net effect is to use up the available funds on solutions that aren’t solutions. Replacing one set of problems with another, without making lasting or sustainable improvements to the fabric of our schools.

A Way Out of the Crisis

Panelised offsite building systems such as i-FAST offer a cost-effective, rapid and proven way to create new school buildings.

The component-based approach and pre-existing product certifications makes the specification and design process highly efficient. The panelised offsite system means you can easily flex the spatial design to make the best use of available space. It also means you can erect the structure ready for fit out extremely rapidly.

Despite the speed of deployment there’s no compromise on sustainability or quality. The i-FAST system simplifies compliance with the DfE Output Specification.

It’s a quick fix, but it’s also a high quality, cost effective and long term fix – which sounds like just what’s needed right now.

If you’d like to know more about opportunities to accelerate school building programmes through offsite methods contact (enquiries@innovaresystems.co.uk) or take a look at our resource centre.