The DfE’s Education Estates Strategy: A governance shift for Academy Trust estates

A shift to strategic estate governance

The RAAC crisis has been a catalyst for tighter estates governance. In 2025, the DfE introduced the School Estate Management Standards (SEMS), followed by changes to the Academy Trust Handbook linking estates failings to potential Notices to Improve for the first time. Also, as Ofsted's regulatory and inspection powers expand, weaknesses in estates governance may come under greater scrutiny where building safety, compliance or strategic oversight raise concerns about leadership and safeguarding. Together, these developments elevate estates from an operational concern to a core element of governance.

For academy trusts, estates governance now sits squarely at board level. Trusts are expected to own a structured estate strategy, underpinned by robust asset management plans and multi-year maintenance programmes. Crucially, estate decisions should align with educational priorities including curriculum delivery, pupil capacity, sustainability and risk ensuring that investment is targeted, defensible and evidence based.

The direction of travel is unambiguous: estates are a strategic asset, and boards must provide measurable oversight of performance, risk and long term value. When considering the significance of buildings and the estate for children and learners and the impact they have on attainment, health and safety and safeguarding perhaps the significance of estates at board level strategy is long overdue. To what extent SEMS will be seen as a support to the sector and to what extent what happens when SEMs are not met remains to be seen and an area we will watch with interest.

Standardisation and digital oversight

A second significant development is the DfE’s intention to standardise how estate data is collected, reported and used. The strategy introduces a new digital platform, Manage Your Education Estate, designed to bring together funding programmes, guidance, estate data and compliance tools in a single system. Responsible bodies will increasingly be expected to manage their estates using consistent data standards and share this information with the department. Alongside this platform, trusts must review and report against SEMS, with the first annual returns expected from autumn 2026.

Translating policy into operational reality, collaboration and challenges for smaller MATs

The strategy has support from the sector, but the delivery is hampered for many by poor legacy data, thin capacity, skills gaps, and capital constraints that stall planned maintenance. There is recognition that not all trusts have the same resources or the same levels of experience and some will be juggling estates with other responsibilities.

Many estates leaders are recognising the need for collaboration and are considering how cross trust forums, shared training and communities of practice might be able to help share what works, reduce duplication and lift standards. Education estates management is now a specialist discipline touching property law, construction, compliance, sustainability, procurement and strategic asset management. Trusts may want to define core competencies for estates roles and invest in CPD pathways and we have already seen discussions with more experienced trusts looking at how the Estate Management Competency Standards align with SEMS to do just this.

Changes to funding and capital programmes.

The strategy is accompanied by changes to how maintenance funding will operate. The DfE intends to simplify access to capital maintenance funding and move away from fully competitive bid processes, focussing instead on improved condition data and standardised reporting. As many speculated, we have seen the end of the much-criticised CIF bidding which will be replaced by 2028.

Significant long term capital investment has been confirmed, including major funding for maintenance programmes and the continuation of the School Rebuilding Programme. A flagship £710 million Renewal and Retrofit Programme is to run between 2026 to 2030 which will deliver essential works across the education estate from structural repairs and modern heating upgrades to climate resilience measures. This is to fill the perceived gap from routine maintenance and the long-term aim is to reduce rebuilding the estate where this is unnecessary.

Sustainability and future planning - unlocking private investment into the sector

Sustainability and decarbonisation are now integral to estates planning. Trusts are increasingly taking a longer term view that combines:

Heat decarbonisation plans and phased energy efficiency projects
Fabric first approaches to reduce demand before plant replacement
Climate resilience measures addressing overheating
Flood risk and drainage
Data driven targeting of interventions that deliver both carbon and cost savings.

It is a positive step that the DfE is looking at different types of private finance and how this type of borrowing will fit within the existing fiscal rules, and it will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

Surplus land

The government intends to develop a decision-making framework to make better use of surplus land and buildings repurposing these for wider community services. There are plans to pilot these approaches and develop this framework later in 2026. The policy highlights the importance of maximising the value of the school estate as a public asset, but I suspect there will be concern across the sector as to the challenges this will bring including safeguarding, operational management and ensuring community use aligns with educational priorities.

Addressing SEND inclusion and the space challenge

The alignment of the Education Estates Strategy and the recent Schools White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, centres on ensuring that school buildings and infrastructure support improved outcomes for children. At the heart of both policies is a commitment to promoting inclusion in mainstream schools for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The Education Estates Strategy proposes inclusion bases in every secondary school, while the White Paper highlights the need for equivalent provision in primary schools. £3.7 billion has been allocated over the next five years to deliver new inclusion spaces and special school places.

Although funding is often the main challenge for estates initiatives, the most significant barrier in this case is the lack of physical space to accommodate the required facilities. This issue is particularly acute in primary schools, newly built schools, and may also entail substantial additional costs for schools operating under Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts.

Looking ahead

In short, the Education Estates Strategy repositions estates as a board level priority, driven by standardised data, digital oversight and clearer accountability. Trusts that act now by strengthening asset planning, building estates competencies and collaborating to share best practice will be better placed to meet SEMS expectations from 2026, access funding with confidence and evidence defensible decisions. Embedding sustainability and inclusion, and planning realistically for space and PFI complexities, should sit alongside curriculum, capacity and risk. The direction is clear: move from reactive fixes to lifecycle stewardship to deliver safer, more resilient and inclusive learning environments.

If you would value a concise review of your estate strategy, governance arrangements or PFI options, contact Jo Burton who can help you prioritise practical next steps