CIF is changing: What academy trusts need to know about the new capital maintenance funding system
For many academy trusts and standalone academies, the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) has been an important route to securing funding for essential building repairs and improvement works.
That system is now changing.
The Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that CIF will be replaced by a new capital maintenance funding programme from autumn 2028 (see our previous blog here). The change forms part of the Government's wider Education Estates Strategy and represents a significant move away from annual, project-by-project competitive bidding towards a more strategic and data-led approach to managing and funding the education estate.
For trusts, this means that the quality of their estate condition information, asset management planning and forward maintenance strategies is likely to become increasingly important.
What is replacing CIF?
Under the current CIF system, eligible academies and trusts identify projects and submit detailed competitive applications for funding. The DfE has confirmed that the replacement programme will make it easier for eligible Responsible Bodies to access capital maintenance funding so that they will no longer need to submit full CIF-style bids. Instead, the new approach will be enabled by DfE's wider transformation of education estate data. Responsible Bodies will collect their own estate information in accordance with common standards and share information with the DfE. The intention is to provide more granular and timely information about the condition of the education estate.
Is competitive bidding disappearing completely?
The DfE has confirmed that eligible Responsible Bodies will not need to submit full bids in the way they currently do for CIF. However, the detailed methodology for the new capital maintenance programme has not yet been published. Therefore, trusts should be cautious about assuming that funding will simply be allocated automatically based on a condition survey. Further detail is still required from the DfE regarding precisely how projects will be identified, prioritised and funded.
What is clear is the direction of travel:
Less reliance on annual competitive applications.
Greater reliance on accurate, timely and comparable estate data.
The DfE intends Responsible Bodies to collect their own estate data and use digital tools in accordance with common standards. The purpose is to create information that is consistent and comparable across the national education estate. The DfE's Education Estates Strategy states that the new capital maintenance programme will be enabled by more granular and timely estate information, with Responsible Bodies collecting their own data in accordance with common standards and sharing it with the Department.
Put simply, trusts will increasingly need to understand:
What assets they own
What condition those assets are in
Where the greatest risks and liabilities sit
What works will be required
How those works should be prioritised
How capital requirements fit into a longer-term asset management plan
This represents a shift from reacting when a building element fails towards proactively understanding and managing the condition of the whole estate.
Who will collect the information?
Rather than relying solely on periodic national condition surveys, the DfE is moving towards Responsible Bodies collecting or commissioning their own data to a common minimum standard. Trusts will need appropriate arrangements for collecting and managing estate information. For many trusts, this is likely to mean working with suitably experienced building surveyors and property consultants alongside their internal estates teams.
What is Manage Your Education Estate?
The DfE has also launched Manage Your Education Estate, its digital service for those responsible for school and college buildings. The service already provides access to estate resources and guidance, School Estate Management Standards annual returns, condition information, funding allocations and DfE funding opportunities.
The DfE intends to introduce two-way data sharing by 2028, giving Responsible Bodies and the Department a shared understanding and better insight into the condition of the estate. This digital and data transformation is fundamental to the proposed replacement for CIF.
When are the changes happening?
The transition is already underway.
2026/27: DfE pilots are testing Responsible Bodies collecting their own condition data and using digital tools in accordance with common standards.
Autumn 2026: Responsible Bodies for schools are asked to make an annual return through Manage Your Education Estate confirming how they are meeting the School Estate Management Standards.
From Autumn 2027: National rollout of the data and digital approach is planned, with Responsible Bodies expected to collect their own information and use digital tools in line with common standards.
By 2028: Two-way data sharing between Responsible Bodies and DfE is planned through Manage Your Education Estate.
Autumn 2028: The new capital maintenance programme is intended to replace CIF, removing the requirement for eligible Responsible Bodies to submit full CIF bids.
What should academy trusts be doing now?
Although the final funding methodology has not yet been published, trusts do not need to wait until 2028 to prepare.
1. Understand the condition of the whole estate
Condition information should provide a reliable picture across the portfolio rather than simply identifying projects when a funding opportunity arises. For larger MATs, this is particularly important because comparable information across schools helps inform strategic decisions about where limited capital should be directed.
2. Review existing condition surveys
Trusts should understand whether their existing surveys and asset information provide sufficient, current information to support strategic estate planning and how that information aligns with emerging DfE data standards.
3. Develop a costed forward maintenance programme
Condition information becomes substantially more useful when it is translated into an actionable capital plan. As consultants, we would recommend linking condition observations to anticipated works, priorities and budget requirements to create a practical forward maintenance strategy.
4. Prioritise risk
Not every condition defect presents the same risk. A strategic asset management approach should allow a trust to distinguish between immediate health and safety or operational risks, significant building fabric or services deterioration, planned lifecycle replacement and longer-term improvement opportunities.
5. Maintain the information
The new direction is towards more timely estate data, rather than treating a condition survey as a report that is produced once and then sits on a shelf. Trusts should therefore consider how condition information will be maintained as projects are completed, defects arise and buildings age.
The role of your building consultant is changing
Historically, much of the consultancy support surrounding CIF has concentrated on identifying a project, building the technical case and preparing evidence to support a competitive funding application. The emerging model creates a different requirement. Trusts will increasingly need professional support to understand their entire estate, maintain robust condition information and translate that data into an effective capital strategy.
Our role as building consultants is therefore evolving from simply supporting individual funding applications to helping trusts with:
portfolio-wide condition surveys;
estate and asset data;
prioritised maintenance planning;
capital forecasting;
strategic asset management;
project feasibility and development;
identification of appropriate funding routes; and
procurement, project management and delivery of capital works.
If you'd like to discuss how this may affect your schools or forward plans, or would like support with your estate strategy, we're happy to help.
Call Us: 01780 430880
Email Us: enquiries@omniaconsult.co.uk
