CABE calls for new focus on design to ensure success of school building programme

The design quality of secondary schools built over the last five years is not good enough to secure the government's ambition to transform our children's education, according to a report published today by CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

While there are signs that design quality is improving, the report says that it is not doing so quickly enough and that too many of the mistakes of the past look like being repeated in the first wave of schools being built under the building schools for the future programme (BSF).

Highlighting work they have already done with the DfES (Department for Education and Skills) to improve school design, CABE is now calling on everyone involved in the BSF programme to recommit themselves to excellence in design. Specifically, CABE proposes a fundamental review of all school design briefs as a matter of urgency to ensure the long-term success of the programme. It will also urge the DfES to withhold funding if new design submissions are not good enough and to offer practical, individual support to head teachers to ensure that every new school built in the future is of the highest possible standard.

The report, published to coincide with the parliamentary education and skills select committee today (3 July), draws on evidence from an audit conducted by CABE to assess the quality of secondary schools built between 2000 and 2005. Assessing 52 out of 124 completed schools, the audit found that 19 per cent were assessed as being good or excellent and 31 per cent were considered partially good, but that 50 per cent were poorly built, badly designed and failed to provide inspiring educational environments.

Launching the BSF programme in 2004, the prime minister explicitly linked the quality of school design to the quality of education, calling for all schools to be 'built around the needs of students, teachers and the wider community' and to be 'geared to develop the talents of each individual young person to the fullest extent'. Yet, whilst CABE's audit shows that most schools perform well on aspects such as size, safety and accessibility (all of which are regulated), those schools ranked as poor were considered particularly bad at providing inspirational educational environments, and nearly all schools failed to tackle basic issues of environmental sustainability such as providing natural daylight and ventilation.

Aimed at everyone involved in the new schools programme, from DfES to individual local authorities and the schools themselves, CABE's report includes the following key recommendations:

• A review of school design briefs, funded by the DfES, as a matter of urgency. These have hardly changed in the past 20 years and need to reflect new ideas about how pupils learn.
• Practical, individual support for head teachers, so that they are familiar with the complexities of the procurement process, and the help available to them.
• Provision by the DfES of expert seminars, workshops and tours of inspirational buildings to raise the level of ambition and disseminate best-practice.
• All design proposals prepared by the private sector to be submitted to a DfES-led schools review panel for approval. If the review panel considers a submission unacceptable, funding should be withheld until it is good enough.

Commenting on the recommendations, Richard Simmons, chief executive of CABE said:

\"On average, five schools will be rebuilt or refurbished every week for the next 13 years. This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve our children's education and we need to make sure we get it right. Our aim is not just to replace crumbling schools with new ones but to transform the way we learn - school needs to change from a place where children are forced to come to be taught to one where a community of individuals can share learning experience and activities. It's clear from our audit that there are simply not enough schools being built or designed at the moment that are exemplary, inspiring, innovative or flexibly designed. It's imperative that the government allows time for design and doesn't compromise quality for speed.\"

Other key findings from CABE's audit included:

• Any procurement route can produce good design. But all except one of the poorest ten schools used PFI, whilst of the good and excellent schools, only three out of the top ten did so.
• All of the good and excellent schemes in the audit were completed in 2005. This suggests that delivery is improving. However, the majority of BSF schools on the drawing board are facing the same problems as previous programmes.
• Generally, schools performed best on issues of functionality; classrooms had adequate space for current teaching methods, buildings were considered to be safe and had adequate parking. Schools performed least well on build quality including a reliance on mechanical ventilation and artificial lighting and poor quality fixtures and fittings.

Notes to editor

• A total of 124 secondary schools were completed between January 2000 and September 2005. CABE assessed a representative sample of 52, using an adapted form of the design quality indicator for schools. The assessment is based on 111 indicators presented as statements, grouped into three categories: the way the building is designed to be useful as a school; its build quality; and its ability to create a sense of place and have an uplifting effect on the local community and environment. Each school was given an overall rating.
• CABE champions the creation of great buildings and public spaces. It is a non-departmental public body set up by the Government in 1999. Through public campaigns and support to professionals, CABE encourages the development of well-designed homes, streets, parks, offices, schools, hospitals and other public buildings.