Every year, schools, academies and sixth-form colleges bid for a share of hundreds of millions of pounds set aside by the Department of Education for building repair work, as well as for expansion needs.
This funding pot is called the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF). Around £15 billion has been granted since 2015 and official guidance for bids is updated each year.
As a leading education consultancy, Ingleton Wood has been successfully awarded millions of pounds of CIF funding for wide-ranging projects across hundreds of schools, colleges and academies in the last 12 years.
From condition surveys to bid writing and project management, you can rely on Ingleton Wood to work closely with you to significantly improve your chances of winning CIF funding and ensure your school is modern, sustainable and fit for purpose.
Who chooses Ingleton Wood?
“Thank you so much for all your help and support in our recent bids for Condition Improvement Funding. It appears that Highworth was the only school to be successful for a new Sports Hall!
This is a fantastic achievement and will make such a difference to all our students as well as the Community. We are all looking forward to the start of the project and working with you in the future.”
Headteacher, Highworth Grammar School
What is the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF)?
The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) is a government budget created to support the ongoing maintenance of academic buildings to put them in good condition.
State-funded schools and sixth-form colleges bid annually for capital funding to cover vital maintenance work, such as roof repairs, heating and lighting, fire safety and safeguarding, as well as expansion projects in areas where schools are overcrowded.
Not all schools are eligible for CIF funding. Larger schools and academies receive annual allocations via a funding formula.
Who can apply?
Schools are either part of bodies eligible for a School Condition Allocation (SCA) or eligible for CIF, depending on their size and type.
Local authorities, larger multi-academy trusts (MATs) and larger Voluntary Aided (VA) school bodies receive direct SCA to invest in priorities across the schools for which they are responsible. Smaller academy trusts, smaller VA bodies and sixth-form colleges are able to bid for CIF.
To be eligible to apply, by the start of September 2023 you must have been one of the following:
- a stand-alone academy
- a school in a MAT with fewer than 5 schools or fewer than 3,000 pupils, as counted in the spring 2023 census or the 2022 to 2023 individualised learner record (ILR)
- a VA school in a VA body or VA group with fewer than 5 schools or fewer than 3,000 pupils, as counted in the spring 2023 census or the 2022 to 2023 ILR
- a sixth-form college
- a school with a signed academy order as of 1 September 2023 that DfE expects to convert to a CIF-eligible responsible body by 1 April 2024
CIF-eligible schools have been invited to apply to the fund for 2024 to 2025. If your school has been invited to bid, your responsible body will not receive any SCA funding on your behalf. If you have condition investment requirements, you should therefore apply direct for funding.
To receive direct SCA in 2024 to 2025, MATs and VA bodies must meet both of these eligibility criteria:
- they must have had 5 or more open schools at the start of September 2023
- those open schools or their predecessors must have had at least 3,000 pupils, as counted in the spring 2023 census or the 2022 to 2023 ILR
Who chooses Ingleton Wood?
“Ingleton Wood have assisted Hurstmere Academy now for a number of years in assessing our buildings, preparing applications for Academies Capital Maintenance Fund (ACMF) / CIF funding bids, and then managing our refurbishment and improvement projects from start to completion.
We have always found the team at Ingleton Wood to be professional, personable and flexible to the needs of the school. Our completed projects have also been delivered to a high quality. As a result, we feel that we have developed a sound working relationship with Ingleton Wood and therefore a relationship upon which we can continue to work together.”
Director of Studies, Hurstmere School
What’s new for 2024-25?
1. Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC)
CIF applications for RAAC mitigations and/or RAAC roof replacements are not required.
The Department for Education will fund both the immediate and long-term costs relating to the mitigation and removal of RAAC. It set out support for educational settings where RAAC has been confirmed in September 2023. This is a separate and additional form of funding and support to the CIF programme.
RAAC explained – and the concrete plan of action you should take
2. Expansion project disqualification
The purpose of expansion projects is to create additional places or address existing overcrowding in schools where the current number of pupils on roll is greater than capacity.
Therefore, expansion applications that increase capacity by less than 10% for an added places project, or where the existing number on roll is less than 10% over the capacity for an overcrowding project will be disqualified.
Who chooses Ingleton Wood?
“When school buildings reach the end of their expected life they can become challenging to manage, but with many competing demands for funding it can still prove tough to get the investment required to make fundamental changes.
Ingleton Wood gathered the various surveys that have been carried out over recent years, performed a detailed analysis of this data and compiled a set of the most compelling property concerns. This helped us construct our case for funding and we now feel more informed about the condition of the buildings.
Throughout the process, Ingleton Wood kept us fully informed of progress and talked us through the report prior final issue. The quality and speed of actions taken helped us maintain traction with this project and we are hopeful for a positive outcome.”
Head of Estates, Inspiration Trust
Our three stages of CIF applications
1. Current Condition Survey
Prior to the submission of the bid, we’ll conduct a condition survey on site to evaluate the current state of your school and identify your priority projects.
2. Writing the bid
We will then provide a free written bid, outlining the scope of the problem, the amount of funding required, and the cost of non-compliance. This bid will be fully costed to ensure it accurately reflects the work to be done with the funds secured.
3. CIF outcomes and project delivery
We will manage the relationship with suppliers and contractors to ensure that the project is delivered on time and within budget.
For one of our long-standing education providers that has relied on Ingleton Wood for CIF funding every year for the past decade, we have secured £7.78 million across 12 bids, from large capital investment for sixth form facilities to safeguarding improvements.
Our specialist teams have also helped to obtain complex permissions, such as overturning planning permission at appeal to the Secretary of State for development within Metropolitan Open Land.
What happened with CIF allocation last year (2023-24)?
In last year’s funding round for academies, sixth-form colleges and voluntary-aided schools for this current 2023-24 academic year, the Government confirmed (here) that:
- 4,547 academies, colleges and schools were eligible to apply
- 2,076 (46%) applied for 3,061 projects
- £456 million was granted for 1,033 projects (34%) at 859 academies, colleges and schools (41% of those which applied)
- The average successful project bid was £441,433, ranging from £20,000 to £4 million
In the previous year (2022-23), £498 million was granted for 1,405 projects at 1,129 academies, sixth-form colleges and voluntary-aided schools (here). This was an average of £354,448 per project – lower than £441,433 in 2023-24.
Get in touch with Ingleton Wood so we can help you create your strongest bid possible to ensure the greatest chance of securing CIF funding for the next academic year.
Who choose Ingleton Wood?
“A big thank you to Ingleton Wood for all your hard work and support with the Science and Technology block bid. We are delighted to have been successful and know we could not have achieved it without you. Looking forward to the next steps.”
Executive Headteacher, St Helena School, Colchester, Essex
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