Today, schools in Bolton will find out if they will benefit from a £456 million investment to improve school buildings across the country.

More than 1,000 school building improvement projects will receive the green light today, Monday, May 22, as part of plans to boost the condition of the school estate.

There have been 158 successful Condition Improvement Fund applications in the North West, which has received £58.5 million funding in total.

Some of these projects have been awarded to schools in Lancashire, Bury and Bolton.

Lancashire will have 20 projects, Bury 14 projects and Bolton 14 projects.

The funding aims to ensure that pupils can learn in safe, warm and energy-efficient classrooms.

Minister for the School System, Baroness Diana Barran MBE said: “Our Condition Improvement Fund has already completed over 11,000 projects, making a difference to pupils and teachers across the country.

“These projects help to create safer learning environments that make a difference to the quality of education for pupils.

“It’s hugely important that every school has access to high-quality learning facilities and these funding allocations will make sure that responsible bodies can start to plan ahead and get projects started to replace roofs, boilers and windows – so pupils and teachers can learn and work in a comfortable space.” 

A total of 859 academies, sixth-form colleges and voluntary aided schools in every region of the country will receive a share of a £456 million pot created to help refurbish and repair school buildings.

The announcement follows 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 being selected for rebuilds through the ten-year programme.

£1.8 billion of capital funding for the financial year 2023-24 has been committed to improving the condition of school buildings, including £1.1 billion for local authorities, large multi-academy trusts and voluntary aided bodies announced in March.