Net capacity assessment programme
Find out about the net capacity assessment (NCA) programme, when school site visits will take place and how to read your NCA report.
Applies to England
Overview
From 2023 to 2025, the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) NCA programme will ensure that accurate and up-to-date information on pupil capacity is available for every government-funded mainstream secondary school and special school in England.
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will visit approximately 4,500 schools to collect data on pupil capacity.
VOA will:
- measure rooms
- record room types
- use the NCA tool and methodology to calculate the number of pupils a school can accommodate, based on the size and use of the spaces available
NCA reports will be shared with:
- schools
- local authorities
- dioceses
- multi-academy trusts
Benefits
The benefits of the NCA programme include:
- identifying spare capacity where demand for places is high
- providing a complete record of pupil capacity in special schools for the first time
- more effective use of space and curriculum planning
- independent verification of capacity for admissions and appeals
- providing more accurate information for responding to emergencies, such as school places for refugee children
Guidance on the NCA programme
Further information can be found in the .
How to read your NCA report
Guidance on how to read your NCA report is available for:
Scheduled school site visits
Find out the dates of school site visits using the .
NCA tool and area guidelines
DfE has also published:
Updates to this page
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Updated the tranche list. Added 'How to read your net capacity assessment (NCA) report' guidance for mainstream and special schools respectively.
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Updated 'tranche list' document.
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Updated 'tranche list' document.
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Updated 'tranche list' document.
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We have updated the programme guide and tranche list, and added a link to a tool to carry out net capacity assessment.
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First published.