Having faced delays after the last election, the School Rebuilding Programme is now gathering pace and is set to generate a significant workload for the construction industry in the coming months.
In the June Spending Review, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that the government was to spend £2.4 billion a year on the programme to rebuild over 500 schools during the next four years, with increased capital funding from April 2026.
Together with a £2 billion rise in the core schools budget, this should “unlock a wave of education-related activity”, according to the newly-published Glenigan Construction Industry Forecast 2026-27.
School building projects account for around 70% of education sector construction activity, and the boost to the rebuilding programme is set to be a major driver of the upturn in work in the sector.
The new Glenigan forecast predicts that the value of underlying (under £100 million) education sector starts will rise by 15% next year and by a further 4% in 2027.
As it is, the number of school projects where work is underway is already on the rise; up from 75 in 2024/25 to 100 in 2025/26.
The government’s pledge to deal with the RAAC, concrete-related problems in schools will be a further spur to activity in the sector.
Indeed, repair & maintenance work is set to rise across state school buildings and its wider estate. The government’s infrastructure strategy points to maintenance funding rising to around £2.3 billion by 2029-30, up from earlier lower levels.
There is no shortage of education projects with planning approval around the country, ready to move forward to the construction stage.
In London, for example, planning approval was granted last year for underlying education projects worth over £700 million.
The North West, where education approvals last year were worth around £550 million, the South East (almost £600 million in 2024), and the West Midlands (around £450 million last year) also look to be promising regions for new school projects.
In Scotland, the value of education projects securing planning is set to exceed £600 million this year, on top of projects in the sector worth over £500 million, which won consent last year.
Schemes of varying sizes
Glenigan data provides numerous examples of school building projects of varying sizes across the country, which are set to go ahead in the coming months.
At Kirby in Ashfield near Nottingham, work is due to start at the end of this year on a £85 million school rebuild at The Outwood Academy (Pictured) involving a new teaching building with sports hall, and space for outdoor sports with parking & landscaping. A first phase to build temporary accommodation will run to next summer, with further phases of the design & build project running up to 2029 (Project ID: 21338392).
Meanwhile, in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, tenders have recently been returned on a £63 million school rebuild and refurb at Thurston Community College, which is one of the 239 schools in the fourth wave of the School Rebuilding Programme. Work on the scheme is set to start next spring and run for 18 months (Project ID: 22465312).
In East London, tenders have been returned, and work is due to begin next spring on a £43.5 million rebuild of Eden Girls’ School in Waltham Forest. A main contractor has yet to be appointed on the project, where work is set to run for 18 months (Project ID: 23001569).
Glenigan data also features opportunities for smaller new work contracts on schools. In Liverpool, for example, work is due to start early next summer on a £1 million rebuild at Lydiate Primary School involving a new two-storey facility with work set to run for 10 months (Project ID: 22266566).
