Building Schools for the Future (BSF)

Building Schools for the Future, 2004-2010

Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was launched in 2004. Partnerships for Schools (PfS) was set up in 2005 to deliver the programme on behalf of the government.

The aims of BSF were to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in England over a 15-20 years period. Local authorities would enter into public-private partnerships, known as Local Education Partnerships (LEPs) with private sector companies. Funding for BSF came from Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and capital receipts, and was initially targeted at local authorities with the most deprived schools, through a standard formula of GCSE results and free school meal uptake.

Each local authority, as a stakeholder in their LEP, would plan a co-ordinated renewal of their entire secondary schools estate through BSF, in phases of funding known as waves. Funding for ICT (managed services, hardware and software) was ring-fenced in the funding envelope for BSF.

The BSF programme was cancelled in July 2010. The established LEPs will continue to deliver their BSF projects that have been funded, with new and refurbished schools opening well into 2014. When pipeline projects have been completed over 700 schools will have received investment through the BSF programme.