Various studies have been undertaken in recent years looking at the condition of the school estate in England and approaches to good estate management.
The DfE Condition Data Collection offers insights into the condition of the 64,000 blocks across 21,600 schools while the recent Capital Advisers Programme provided insights into the implementation of good estate management across 64 Academy Trusts.
Programmes such as the School Rebuilding Programme and DfE surveys related to specific issues such as RAAC or asbestos management also offer some information. Independently, the National Audit Office provided further data in its June 2023 report on the ‘Condition of School Buildings’
While these sources provide some useful high-level evidence that the school estate requires significant investment, there remains a gap in the evidence base. There is very limited empirical evidence from estates professionals who are at the forefront of managing this estate and have first-hand knowledge of the challenges (and opportunities) that this presents.
In response to this gap, during 2025, MAC Construction Consultants in partnership with Jo Marchant MBE, carried out the first ‘School Estate Practitioner’ survey for school estates professionals in state funded schools in England. This survey delivers new data and insights across the three DfE pillars of Building and Rebuilding; Condition Resilience and Decarbonisation; and Estate Management.
