22 schools re-open under Priority School Building Programme

Schools Minister Lord Nash has announced that more than 11,550 pupils across the country will begin the new school year in state-of-art buildings funded by multi-million pound investment in refurbishment work.

22 schools will reopen this month having undergone extensive work carried out under the government’s flagship Priority School Building Programme (PSBP). The programme is part of a sustained effort to ensure that pupils, regardless of birth or background, have access to excellent school facilities.

The PSBP targets the individual requirements of schools most badly in need of physical repair and carries out the work to enable pupils and teachers to benefit from the improved facilities. These include world-class classrooms, multi-purpose halls and state of the art drama studios.

Schools Minister Lord Nash said: “The start of this new school year marks an important milestone in the progress of the Priority School Building Programme, with more schools than ever transformed from run-down buildings to state-of-the-art facilities.

“These schools will give young people across the country the modern learning environment they need to unlock their potential.”

Before this September, 27 schools had already reopened under the first phase of the Priority School Building Programme, and this term a further 22 will reopen as a result of more than £160M investment. Over the two phases of the PSBP, 537 schools will be transformed in projects worth a total of £4.4Bn.

The Priority School Building Programme was established in 2011 to replace the previous school building initiative, Building Schools for the Future. Its introduction has reduced the time taken for construction work to begin from three years to one, with project costs also slashed by around a third.

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