New DfE Guidance on Long-Term Estates Plan – What Education Estates Need to Know
- OMNIA Building Consultants
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
The Department for Education (DfE) launched its new Manage Your Education Estate portal on 25 February, following the unveiling of its ambitious 10-year plan to transform England’s Education Estate and the replacement of the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) with a new capital maintenance programme.
Alongside this launch, the DfE has also published new guidance on Condition Surveys (click to read our earlier blog on this) and to support schools and colleges in developing robust, long-term estates strategies.
Developing Your Long-Term Estates Plan
New guidance was published on 25th February by the DfE to help schools and colleges plan, prioritise and deliver estate improvements that address condition, suitability, resilience and decarbonisation.
Note: Further guidance and cases studies will be published by the DfE in September 2026.
This guidance sets out a structured 7 step process to support schools and colleges in planning & delivering estate improvements.
Step 1: Establish your estate vision and objectives
How your buildings and land will support high-quality education both now and in the future, while responding to the growing pressures of aging assets, climate change and rising energy costs.
Step 2: Understand and baseline your estate
Before planning what building works should be included in your long term estates plan, you should first gain an understanding of your estate.
Step 3: Assess the condition and urgent risks of your estate
You should use reliable condition information to:
identify defects
understand risks
priorities interventions in a planned and proportionate way
Step 4: Assess the suitability and sufficiency of your estate
Use the net capacity assessment tool to ensure you have enough space to accommodate the needs of the curriculum & the school’s wider needs.
You should then assess the condition of your buildings and whether they are suitable for your educational requirements.
Step 5: Identify your resilience and decarbonisation priorities
Identify any climate-related risks; such as flooding and overheating while maintaining safe learning environments.
Understanding your carbon emissions and how you can decarbonise.
Step 6: Define a strategic approach to renewal and retrofit
Develop an estate masterplan.
Consider funding, procurement and resourcing.
Engage experts to support surveys, design and delivery.
Consider: Compliance & Assurance, Educational Value, Implementation, Maintenance & Monitoring.
Step 7: Develop a plan of work
Using the strategic approach established in Step 6, develop a plan of work that translates your estate strategy into a deliverable, phased programme of interventions, that clearly sets out:
What will be done
When
Why
and considers available funding, operational constraints and educational priorities.
To read the full guidance published by DfE visit:
OMNIA’s team of specialist Education Building Consultants can support you at every stage of your estates journey. Working in line with the DfE’s seven-step process, we help deliver estate improvements that address condition, suitability, resilience, and decarbonisation, ensuring your buildings are fit for the future.
If you would like support in reviewing your existing strategy or developing a new long term estates plan in line with DfE’s guidance, our team can help you.
If you'd like to discuss how this may affect your schools or forward plans, we're happy to help.
Call Us: 07355 602070
Email Us: enquiries@omniaconsult.co.uk
