School condition allocation (SCA) funding

WHAT IS SCA FUNDING?

SCA funding is a vital source of funding for schools and colleges. It is allocated by central Government in order to help MATs, with more than 5 Academies and 3000 students, maintain their buildings. SCA funding is issued every May and MATs have 2 years in which to spend it.

IS MY ORGANISATION ELIGIBLE FOR SCA FUNDING?

If you have more than 5 Academies and 3000 students, then yes. If you have less than 3000 students, you may be able to form an “opted-in chain” with other Trusts.

WHATS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCA AND THE CONDITION IMPROVEMENT FUND (CIF)?

SCA funding is based on the numbers of students in your Trust and is a guaranteed source of income for your MAT every year. It is not dependent on an application process and can be spent on any maintenance issue your Trust faces. 

CIF funding must be applied for and is not guaranteed to be awarded. It is project based, so must be spent on specific items.

HOW MUCH SCA FUNDING IS MY TRUST LIKELY TO RECEIVE?

The SCA funding allocation depends largely on the numbers of students in your Trust, but other factors apply too. At the time of writing (2020) the amount per student is £115.15.

This amount is then revised up or down using a number of modifiers. A summary is below. Full details are available here.

Age / Education Phase:

• Primary:                                               1x initial allocation
• Secondary:                                          1.5 x initial allocation
• Post 16:                                                2 x initial allocation
• Special / PRU / Boarders:                    3 x initial allocation

Modernisation factor:

A school is treated as “modern” if:

• It has 80% or more of its total floor area refurbished in the last 10 years
• It has had significant recent investment
• It is a PFI school or part of the Priority School Building Programme
• If a school falls into the “modern” category, it will automatically receive 50% of the initial allocation, since it’s assumed it does not need as much maintenance.

Location factor

Depending on the location, the initial allocation may be modified up or down to reflect variations in local costs. The modifier is taken from the BCIS database and raises (or lowers) the amount of funding by up to 20%, depending on the area of the UK.

Voluntary-aided factor

Voluntary aided schools have an 8% uplift in SCA funding, to compensate for their inability to access VAT refund schemes.

OUR EXPERIENCE

As a multi-academy trust operator, you’ll know that property maintenance is vital to stop small issues become major problems. And you’ll know that SCA funding can help – but it’s not always easy to prioritise. Eddisons’ fully qualified RICS-accredited surveyors can undertake a comprehensive survey of your MAT’s buildings, so you’ll know what needs addressing. We’ll work with you to develop a realistic, achievable maintenance programme. Get in contact with us today and make sure that your SCA funding goes as far as it can!

Eddisons believe that while SCA funding is vitally important, it’s almost more important to have a strategic understanding of your Trust’s maintenance needs and to develop a fully costed maintenance programme.That’s where we can help. We have over 175 years of advising property owners and assisting them in making the most of their buildings. Our fully qualified RICS-accredited surveyors can undertake a comprehensive survey of your MAT’s buildings. Working with you, we can then develop a realistic and achievable programme which uses your Trust’s allocation of SCA funding to best effect. Contact our team of expert building consultants today for more information on your eligbility for SCA funding.