Published: 21 February 2017 in Building Types

Modular buildings could be the solution to ‘extremely poor’ school buildings

In May 2016 the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) released findings on the quality of school buildings in the UK. They discovered that overcrowded, poor working environments meant that over one in five teachers had considered leaving their school. Teacher shortages have led to the cost of agency supply teachers to increase by £50m in 2014/15 compared to the last two years. Government recruitment targets have also been missed for the last four years. This culminates in an ever-decreasing teaching population working in sub-standard school facilities.

According to RIBA’s analysis of government figures, only 5% of school buildings were in top condition and performing as intended. The report also highlighted separate figures published in 2014 which suggests that 23% of councils in England rated the condition of their school buildings as “extremely poor” or “very poor”.  A steady rise in pupil numbers and government cuts have been blamed for the poor-quality buildings. As well as the Government’s current school building approach being too rigid, leading to wasted taxpayer money. They also highlighted that funding for school buildings decreased dramatically. In 2010 £7.6 billion was being spent on improving education buildings. However, the priority schools building programme (PSBP) which was launched in 2011 has a budget of £2.4 billion. The fund attracted three times as many applications as it could afford to fund, which left thousands of schools with sub-standard buildings and no way to fund improvements.

The issues in education buildings range from leaky roofs to asbestos exposure. Students are trying to learn in classrooms that are damaging their health as well as their education. Almost half of teachers also commented that their school buildings were too small for the number of pupils at their schools. RIBA’s report recommended that schools were allowed more design input on their buildings as well as increased design flexibility to allow for features such as wide corridors. They also recommended greater efforts to minimise maintenance costs.

Many councils are now looking to modular and portable buildings as a solution to their building issues and to meet RIBA recommendations. Modular buildings can provide safe, secure and fun learning environments. Modular buildings can be installed in weeks rather than months and are much less costly to install initially and have lower maintenance costs. Our buildings also offer the ability to add on to your current building, so your building can grow as your school does. You can also add bespoke features to your building to ensure it meets all the needs of your school.

Get in touch with Springfield for any further information on how our modular building systems can help your school to expand and create a better learning experience for your students.