Guidance
Managing older school buildings
Guidance to help school building owners and maintenance staff identify building systems and prioritise maintenance and repair of their school estate.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This guidance is for:
- local authorities (for community, voluntary-controlled schools, foundation schools and maintained nursery schools)
- academy trusts (for academies and free schools)
- governing bodies (for voluntary-aided schools)
- school and college leaders, staff and governing bodies in:
- further education colleges and designated institutions
- sixth-form colleges
- maintained schools
- academies and free schools
- pupil referral units
- city technology colleges
- non-maintained special schools
- maintained nursery schools
- technical professionals involved in the design, construction and maintenance of school premises
It provides information on:
- common construction types used in the school estate
- specific maintenance items associated with different construction types, including:
- short-term actions to take
- how to seek further advice
It should be used in conjunction with the following guidance:
Updates to this page
Published 25 April 2024
Last updated 11 December 2025
show all updates
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New sections added to the guidance with additional information about construction types that are common in older school buildings.
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First published.