The 2019 national benchmarking study (click on link) analyses the capital cost of building new school places across the country. This is now the largest national study of its kind and compares the like for like cost of school buildings delivered by Local Authorities and the DfE. Projects include school extensions, new schools, free schools and the Priority School Building Programme (PSBP).

The support of individual LAs and the DfE is essential to the value and credibility of the exercise. The benchmarking work has covered every region of England and is now a significant data set with a high level of consistency that forms a credible case for developer negotiations and informs us of the actual costs of school projects including cost per place, gross and net costs. The study is also used as a tool by the DfE to help negotiate future education capital settlements with Treasury.

The study has been welcomed and supported by the Cabinet Office and the Department for Education.  It will be important to continue this trend of publishing both local and central government costs together in a coherent and standardised manner.

We will write to you again in September seeking data for the 2020 study which will cover primary, secondary and SEN school costs. We would like to thank all Local Authorities that contributed to this years study. We hope you find this latest publication of value and thank you for your ongoing support.