Condition Improvement Fund (CIF)

IF FUNDING ISN’T GRANTED,
NEITHER IS OUR FEE.

The Condition Improvement Fund has been put in place by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. This funding has been made available following the transition of schools being maintained by the council, to becoming academies.

To be eligible to place a CIF bid, the establishment must not be part of a large Multi-Academy Trust or an opted-in chain receiving formatic funding. A large Multi-Academy Trust is defined as an institution having 5 Academies and more than 3000 pupils.

Academies are able to place up to two bids per annum for this funding which must demonstrate the need for the funding, value for money and that the project has been planned effectively.

Each year the ESFA release guidelines which are closely scrutinised by our experienced in-house education team and the bids are composed to meet these. They rate the types of projects on a scale of most important to least important which indicate which types of projects are most likely to achieve the funding

Categories most likely to receive funding

Building Envelope – Ensuring that the building is weatherproof. We have experience in successfully replacing roof coverings, defective windows/doors and cladding.

Fire Compliance – Ensuring that the building meets existing fire regulations. We have experience in successfully replacing/installing, fire alarms, fire doors, external escape routes and lighting.

Expansion Projects – Where schools do not have enough room for their existing pupils which results in overcrowding. Our team has experience in successfully achieving funding for both extensions to existing schools and the construction of new blocks for schools.

Health and Safety Issues – These include (but are not limited to) the lack of continuous heating or water and emergency asbestos removal. Our team has experience in achieving funding for all of the above and successfully delivering the projects on site.

High success rate with F&S Consultants

Our team have experience in submitting hundreds of CIF bids and has been successful in achieving up to an 80% success rate.
We understand that construction work within a school/academy can be daunting which is why we work closely with our clients and all parties involved to ensure no disruption to the pupil’s day-to-day learning is encountered

Why F&S Consultants?

We offer a free service in preparing and submitting these projects on your academy’s behalf. We will undertake the necessary surveys of your establishment and prepare a detailed submission ensuring it meets all ESFA guidelines and matches the criteria to give the maximum chance of being granted the funding.

We ensure all costs are covered within the CIF bid, meaning the school has nothing to pay towards the project. This includes the construction and disbursement costs, such as building control and planning permission, as well as project management fees.

If the bid is successful we request that the school use F&S as their project manager for the works, benefitting from no cost to the school for this service. In doing so you access our wealth of experience in delivering these projects, whilst alleviating you from the intricacies of a construction project. We pride ourselves in supporting the school to have as little or as much involvement as they wish and ensure to undertake the works in as discreet a manner as possible.

In the unlikely event that the bid is unsuccessful, there is still no cost to the school. Additionally, we will look to commence the appeals process on your behalf as well as utilise the ESFA’s feedback to resubmit the bid next year.

Please contact us to arrange a no obligation meeting to discuss your schools needs and the next steps forward.

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