Richard has welcomed over £450 million in extra funding from the government to upgrade school buildings across the country, including projects at Biggleswade Academy and Raynsford Church of England Academy in North East Bedfordshire.
859 academies, sixth-form colleges and voluntary aided schools will receive a share of £456 million from the Condition Improvement Fund, with over 1,000 projects selected.
This new investment will upgrade and improve school and college facilities, providing pupils with safer and warmer classrooms, and more energy efficient school buildings.
The government announced £1.8 billion of capital funding for the financial year 2023-24 to improve the condition of school buildings – including £1.1 billion for local authorities, large multi-academy trusts and voluntary aided bodies.
The announcement follows on from the 239 new school buildings confirmed in December as part of the Schools Rebuilding Programme, with 400 out of 500 schools and sixth form colleges now selected for rebuilds through the ten-year programme.
Richard Fuller MP said:
We have a world-leading education system but we must continue to invest in safe, warm and energy efficient classrooms so pupils have the facilities they need to study effectively and succeed.
That is why I welcome the news that the government is investing an additional £456 million into our school buildings across the country, delivering over 1,000 building improvement projects, including at Biggleswade Academy and Raynsford Church of England Academy.
Every school should have access to high-quality facilities and our investment will deliver this so pupil can develop the skills they need for their careers as we grow the economy.
This follows news last week that England came fourth internationally for primary reading proficiency in the highly anticipated Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) results. This continued success in PIRLS follows the focus on phonics and is driven by improvements for the least able pupils.
Despite disruption from the pandemic, England’s score remained stable following significant improvements in 2011 and 2016, coming fourth out of the 43 countries who tested the standard 9-10-year-old cohort. Direct comparison of countries’ performance between 2016 and 2021 is complicated by Covid-19 disruption.
England’s score of 558 was well above the international average of 520 and the European average of 524. The PIRLS rankings are widely regarded as the international benchmark for primary reading capability and are typically carried out every five years.
This success follows on from a series of reforms to improve standards in reading including the introduction of the Phonics Screening Check and the introduction of the English Hubs programme.
The Department for Education introduced the Phonics Screening Check in 2012, to ensure every 6-year-old is on track with their reading. In 2012, only 58% reached the expected standard, by 2019 just before the pandemic this had reached 82%.
The £60 million English Hubs programme was rolled out in 2018 and is designed to develop expertise in teaching reading in schools. The lead schools work with partner schools by modelling best practice and providing expert teachers to help them raise reading standards through phonics. Analysis published today shows that partner schools supported by the English Hubs Programme outperformed other schools by around 7 percentage points in their Phonics Screening Checks.
