Modular building fix for England’s deteriorating school estate

An FOI (Freedom of Information) dataset analysed by Portakabin, gathered from local authorities, suggests that schools throughout England are operating with thousands of elements that are deteriorating, energy inefficient or no longer aligned with modern teaching needs. With more than 200,000 of the almost four million recorded elements, now classed as Grade C or Grade D.

School condition grades are typically defined as follows:

• Grade A refers to elements that are in good condition and operating as intended, with no significant defects
• Grade B refers to elements that are generally sound but may show minor signs of wear and tear, with only limited maintenance required
• Grade C refers to elements that are in poor condition, often showing major defects or not performing as they should. These issues usually require significant repair or replacement in the short to medium term
• Grade D refers to elements that have reached the end of their life or are at risk of imminent failure, meaning urgent replacement is needed.

The data shows there are more than 181,000 Grade C issues across school buildings in England, alongside over 22,000 Grade D issues.

These more serious categories can include ageing roofs, decaying brickwork, poor thermal performance, outdated heating systems and ageing electrical installations, all of which can increase running costs and impact day to day learning environments.

Brendan Cornick, Head of Health, Safety & Environmental at Portakabin, commented: “The volume of Grade C and D level issues suggests that there are a huge number of school buildings operating beyond their intended life in England.

“We made this FOI request to try and obtain the average age of school buildings across the country. What we have found indicates that there are deteriorating or end-of-life building elements across England’s entire school estate, resulting in many buildings which may not fully support modern teaching standards or energy performance expectations.”

When breaking the data down into each region of England, the North East has the highest proportion of school conditions which received a Grade C or D – more than 13,000 of the 178,000+ school conditions were graded this way (a 7.62 per cent share).

However, London has the highest number of Grade D level school condition issues of all regions analysed, with close to 5,000 records graded in this manner.

Cornick points out: “Each region has much more than 1,000 Grade D level issues though. Just one Grade D level issue should be a cause for concern, as it highlights a severe problem that most likely requires urgent attention so that a school building remains safe and structurally sound.”

These figures, says Portakabin, imply that many English students are learning in school buildings designed for outdated energy conditions and teaching demands instead of the ones suitable for today’s requirements.

Cornick explained: “When pupils are studying in ageing buildings, they are usually based in classrooms that will be performing poorly in terms of temperature control, insulation and ventilation.

“These ongoing maintenance demands can ripple across the entire school, reducing funds for digital upgrades, accessibility, student services, and even the ability to create stable, future-focused learning environments.”

For those in charge of updating school buildings which have been identified as having Grade C or D issues, Portakabin suggests they should look towards modular buildings to make swift but effective alterations.

Modular classrooms and school buildings can be easily and quickly integrated into existing infrastructure or serve as the foundation for a completely new development. They can also house any type of facility that an education provider may need, whether that is standard classrooms, sound-proof music rooms, spacious lecture theatres or specialist laboratories and sports halls.

Any modular building will be manufactured off site before it is transported to a school’s location for installation too. This means there will be less disruption or concerns about students’ safety than there would be if a traditional construction site was put in place around an educational establishment during the building work.

The full regional and nationwide breakdown of the dataset: