Government publishes standard designs for Priority Schools

Described as baseline "sketch designs", the published guidance covers two secondary schools for 1,200 pupils and a primary school for 420 pupils. The designs have been developed by schools capital body the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and were "informed by studies of existing school buildings". They are not mandatory, but schools will not be able to spend more than what it would cost to construct a school to those specifications.

The Government named the 261 schools due to receive funding as part of the PSBP in May. Of those schools, 42 deemed to be "in the very worst condition" or those for children with special educational needs will receive a share of a Government capital grant to complete the work; with the remaining projects due to be funded by way of a £2 billion private finance initiative (PFI).

The PSBP is intended to address the needs of the schools in the worst condition in the country, with funding resources allocated from a set budget according to need. However the Government has been criticised for its delays to the programme, which replaced the previous government's Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme which was cancelled in July 2010.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said in May that by taking a standardised approach to new school buildings, in the form of a baseline design, the programme would take a "more efficient, faster, less bureaucratic approach" to building schools than the "wasteful" processes of the past. Schools will be given "greater flexibility" to manage their own cleaning, catering and security arrangements and projects will, he said, benefit from reduced regulations and guidance.

The programme could also deliver cost savings as a result of the smaller buildings which will make up the new schools. The new designs are approximately 15% smaller than those built under the previous government and feature smaller corridors, assembly halls, canteens and atriums.

"Compared to BSF these designs represent a reduction in wasted space – 15% for secondary and 5% for primary schools – whilst maintaining the same size teaching space, classrooms, staffrooms, sport and art and design facilities," the DfE said in a statement. "These new schools will still be bigger than secondary schools built in 2004 and primaries built in 2006."

Although the designs are based on the facilities needed to deliver "typical curriculums", according to the DfE, they retain the "flexibility to accommodate a range of teaching approaches", it said.

"The designs are not site-specific but will suit a range of sites and orientations," it said. "One of the secondary designs is devised as a 'kit of parts' making it particularly suitable for awkwardly-shaped sites or those where some buildings are being retained. External areas are not in the scope of the project, although consideration is given to access to the outside."