Guidance

Submit a school land transaction proposal

Which forms you need to complete when submitting a school land transaction proposal and when you need to involve the Secretary of State for Education.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 10 February 2021
• Last updated: 30 September 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 30 September 2026

     Updated ‘School land transactions: guidance’ and ‘Form E - granting an easement of playing field or non-playing field land’.

  2. 27 March 2026

     Updated 'School land transactions: guidance' to clarify DfE's position on which type of playing field land disposal cases are referred to the independent playing field panel and changes to the consultation requirements for playing field land disposals. Updated forms E and F.

  3. 6 November 2025

     Updated Form M – Academy land transfers. This form should be submitted 2 months before the date of academy transfer. Any later amendments may delay the transfer.

  4. 2 December 2024

     Added a new section on 'Nurseries'. Also added 3 new documents: ‘The School Land General Disposal and Change of Use (Childcare) Class Consent 2024', ‘General Consent Order (GCO): School Based Nursery - notification form’ and ‘Form N – Disposals of school land for a school-based nursery provision’.

  5. 27 November 2024

     Updated the page to remove out of date content. Also updated the 'School land transactions: guidance' to confirm that Forms A, B and J should now be completed through the Land transaction portal. Added the link to the Land transaction portal.

  6. 17 May 2023

     The 'General Consent Order (GCO): The School Playing Fields General Disposal and Change of Use Class Consent', 'General Consent Order (GCO): The Academies General Disposal and Appropriation Class Consent', 'General Consent Order (GCO): Schedule 1 Academies Act 2010 - notification form' and 'General Consent Order (GCO) Section 77 School Standards and Frameworks Act 1998 - notification form' have been updated for 2023.

  7. 23 August 2022

     Added 'The School Playing Fields General Disposal and Change of Use Class Consent (No 6) 2022' and 'The Academies General Disposal and Appropriation Class Consent (No 3) 2022' which replace the 'School Playing Fields General Disposal and Change of Use Consent (No 5) 2014’ and the ‘Academies General Disposal and Appropriation Consent (No 2) 2012' respectively. Also updated 2 more forms under ‘General Consent Orders’: ‘Section 77 School Standards and Frameworks Act 1998 – notification form’ and ‘Schedule 1 Academies Act 2010 – notification form’.

  8. 8 June 2022

     Added 'Decisions on the disposal of school land'.

  9. 28 September 2021

     Updated the 'School land transactions: guidance' and forms A to L.

  10. 10 February 2021

      First published.

Applies to England

What you need to do

Refer to the School land transactions: guidance (PDF, 1.07 MB, 76 pages) to help you understand how to make an application or notify the Secretary of State for Education when disposing of school playing field land.

1. Part 1 explains whether you need to involve the Secretary of State.

2. Part 2 explains the assessment criteria used for different types of land transactions and the specific information and evidence required to be provided with your application.

3. Part 3 explains what is classified as playing field land, how to provide your playing field statistics and information about the role of the playing field panel.

4. Part 4 explains which land transactions are covered by the General Consent Orders (GCOs).

5. Part 5 explains how to submit your application for consent or notify the Secretary of State.

6. Part 6 concerns academy conversions, statutory transfers for voluntary and foundation schools, transfers of land from one academy trust to another academy trust and orders made under section 554 of the Education Act 1996.

For some land transactions, you need to obtain the Secretary of State’s prior consent or give notice to the Secretary of State. In other cases, a General Consent Order (GCO) may apply to the proposed land transaction.

Apply for school land transactions

Use the following forms to make your land transaction application.

• Form A - Disposals of non-playing field land If your disposal relates to solar or telecommunications equipment, you will also need to complete Form E or Form F
• Form B - Disposals of playing field land If your disposal relates to solar or telecommunications equipment, you will also need to complete Form E or Form F
• Form C - Disposals of non-playing field land at operating schools which require notification under Schedule 22 only (MS Word Document, 137 KB)
• Form D - Granting an easement of playing field or non-playing field land (MS Word Document, 140 KB)
• Form E - Granting a lease or disposing of land for solar panels (MS Word Document, 423 KB) Supplemental form for use with Form A or B where you are granting a lease or disposing of land to allow for solar PV equipment on your school site. This is not a digital form and will need to be uploaded to the portal in support of your application
• Form F: Disposal of land for telecoms equipment (MS Word Document, 403 KB) Supplemental form for use with Form A or B where you are granting a lease or disposing of land to allow for telecommunications equipment on your school site. This is not a digital form and will need to be uploaded to the portal in support of your application
• Form G - Applications to enter into joint use agreements (MS Word Document, 143 KB)
• Form H - Change of use of playing field land (MS Word Document, 146 KB)
• Form I - Change of use of school land for non-educational purposes (MS Word Document, 141 KB)
• Form J - Acquisitions
• Form K - Any other application under an academy trust's funding agreement (MS Word Document, 138 KB)
• Form L - Appropriation of school land by a local authority (MS Word Document, 91.1 KB)
• Form M - Academy land transfers (MS Word Document, 532 KB)
• Form N - Disposal of school land for a school-based nursery (MS Word Document, 57.3 KB)

Nurseries

Following the September 2025 launch of phase 2 of the Department for Education’s school-based nursery programme, which provides funding for schools to create nurseries in existing primary school premises, and updates to guidance on establishing school-based nursery provision, a consent process for land transactions relating to nurseries and childcare is now available.

General Consent Orders (GCOs) and notification forms are applicable to:

• local authorities
• governing bodies of maintained schools and foundation bodies
• the trustees of a foundation, voluntary or foundation special school for specific nursery related land transactions

There is also a short application form for nursery and childcare related land transactions where the GCO does not apply.

General Consent Orders (GCO)

The Secretary of State has agreed that they would routinely expect to grant consent for some types of disposal. Accordingly, the following General Consent Orders (GCOs) provide a blanket consent in these cases.

Main GCOs

You must complete a notification form if the following GCOs apply to you:

• General Consent Order (GCO): The School Playing Fields General Disposal and Change of Use Class Consent (No 7) 2023 (PDF, 145 KB, 6 pages)
• General Consent Order (GCO): The School Playing Fields General Disposal and Change of Use Class Consent (No 7) 2023 - notification form (MS Word Document, 554 KB)
• General Consent Order (GCO): The Academies General Disposal and Appropriation Class Consent (No 4) 2023 (PDF, 166 KB, 5 pages)
• General Consent Order (GCO): The Academies General Disposal and Appropriation Class Consent (No 4) 2023 - notification form (MS Word Document, 562 KB)
• The School Land General Disposal and Change of Use (Childcare) Class Consent 2024 (PDF, 150 KB, 3 pages)
• The School Land General Disposal and Change of Use (Childcare) Class Consent 2024 - notification form (MS Word Document, 62.9 KB)

Other GCOs

You do not need to complete a notification form for the following GCOs:

• General Consent Order (GCO): Temporary school land and playing fields (PDF, 161 KB, 6 pages)
• General Consent Order (GCO): Disposal of school playing fields by restriction (PDF, 90.1 KB, 2 pages)

Contact

Use the Land transaction portal to complete application forms for disposals and acquisitions (Forms A, B and J).

Use the Customer Help Portal by selecting ‘Education Estates’ > ‘Managing Buildings and Land’ > ‘Land Transactions’ for all other application forms, GCO notifications and any other enquiries.

A list of playing field land disposals considered by the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel is available.