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28 ^th June, 2005
A Scottish Executive Statistics Publication
ISSN 1479-7569
ISBN 0 7559 2620 X (Web only publication)

This document is also available in pdf format (236k)
This document is also available in Excel Format (82k)

This document contains the results of the Scottish Executive's new collection of certain core facts about the school estate. This survey looks at the extent, value, condition, capacity and running costs of the school estate. The collection took place in December 2004.

PLEASE NOTE: Figures contained in this publication are not National Statistics. This exercise is new and there may be differences in the ways in which local authorities answer questions. They have therefore been categorised as Experimental Statistics, and are published in order to improve the quality of collection by increasing awareness and enabling discussion. Caution should be exercised when comparing information between local authorities.

The main findings of the survey are:

• The total gross internal floor area ( GIA) of all publicly funded schools in Scotland is about eight million square metres. This gives an average of 1,700 square metres per primary school, 10,300 square metres per secondary school and 1,300 square metres per special school.

• The total area within the perimeter of the school estate is about 51 million square metres (about 20 square miles). This gives an average of 12,500 square metres per primary school, 57,500 square metres per secondary school and 12,000 square metres per special school.
• There were 202 schools which shared a campus with one or more other schools (mainly primary and secondary schools sharing the same site), 148 schools had dedicated areas for community services and 72 schools were reported as having been built or refurbished under Public Private Partnership ( PPP) arrangements.
• In accounting terms, the gross value of the school stock was £5.8 billion ^{( 1)} and the replacement stock value was £7.7 billion.
• Fourteen per cent of schools were given the overall building condition rating of A (good), 43 per cent were rated B (satisfactory), 36 per cent were rated C (poor) and 8 per cent were rated D (bad).

• 86 per cent of primary schools were operating at or below 90 per cent capacity, with 36 per cent at or below 60 per cent capacity. 68 per cent of secondary schools were operating at or below 90 per cent capacity, with 11 per cent at or below 60 per cent capacity.
• Total revenue expenditure on repairs, alterations and maintenance was £61 million for 2003-04 and PPP service payments amounted to £45 million.
• The total cost of utilities used by the school estate was £61 million in 2003-04. Water costs amounted to £17 million, electricity costs were £24.6 million, gas costs were £13 million, oil cost £5.7 million and solid fuel costs amounted to £842,000.

(1) excluding one local authority who were unable to provide this figure

BACKGROUND NOTES

1. The information in this statistical publication notice is derived from the December 2004 school estate core facts collection of data on all publicly funded primary, secondary and special schools, and financial information from local authorities.

2. Data for grant aided schools and stand-alone nurseries were not collected in this survey.

3. Information from the survey is used to establish baselines, inform targets, inform spending decisions, support monitoring and evaluation of progress over time, and support assessments of value for money in the school estate.

Data quality and definitions

4. This is the second year that school estate data has been collected. The collection was piloted in December 2003. However as the data was incomplete and often of poor quality the results were not published.

5. Not all local authorities could answer all of the questions in the survey at this time.

6. A school is recorded as having community services if there is space within it dedicated to and managed by those providing community services, such as dental, medical or police.

7. A PPP (Public Private Partnership) school is one that has been built or refurbished under a public/private partnership arrangement.

8. The gross value of the school stock is the amount at which the school estate is valued in accounting terms.

9. Replacement stock value is based on the amount for which the school estate is insured.

10. Although local authorities are confident that there is consistency in results within their area, these results may not be consistent across authorities i.e. a school given a particular rating by one local authority might have been be rated differently by another local authority, depending on the survey methodology. Any comparisons between local authorities must take this into account. The Executive are currently considering how best to address this issue.

11. The condition of a school is based on the following criteria, as assessed by local authorities:

Condition A: Good - Performing well and operating efficiently
Condition B: Satisfactory - Performing adequately but showing minor deterioration
Condition C: Poor - Showing major defects and/or not operating adequately
Condition D: Bad - Life expired and/or serious risk of imminent failure

12. Local authorities determine the formulae used to calculate capacity. They may therefore vary between local authorities and school types. The percentage of capacity used in each school was calculated using the number of pupils recorded at each school from the results of the September 2004 pupil census.

13. The following symbols are used in this publication:

General

14. All tables are available on the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00427

15. Figures contained in this publication are not National Statistics. This is the second year of a new collection and it is understood that there remain some differences in the way in which local authorities are reporting information. Local authorities were also unable to provide full data for several of the questions. Once the survey has bedded in and quality concerns have been addressed, the data will be considered for inclusion within the scope of National Statistics.

16. The statistical collection however has been carried out to the same standards as National Statistics surveys. They have been therefore categorised as Experimental Statistics, and are published in order to improve the quality of collection by increasing awareness and enabling discussion. A publication date was announced in advance and the published results are free from political interference.

16. The team responsible for producing this document were
Mal Cooke, Debbie Hall, Matt Flanagan, Colin Gallacher.

17. Public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this Publication Notice should be addressed to:

Mal Cooke,

Telephone : 0131 244 1689
or e-mail : school.stats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Press Contact: Marion MacKay: telephone 0131 244 3070.

28 ^th June, 2005

List of Tables

Table 1: Total gross internal floor area and area within perimeter of schools
Table 2: Number of schools which have a shared campus, community services and are PPP projects
Table 3: Value of the school estate
Table 4.1: Primary school capacity
Table 4.2: Secondary school capacity
Table 5: Capital & revenue expenditure on the school estate 2003-04
Table 6: Utilities cost (£000's) and usage, 2003-04

List of Charts

Chart 1: Overall Condition of schools, by school type

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