Architects for schools: how to choose one for a capital project

By Grayling Thomas Architects · October 2026

Architects for schools plan, design and deliver school buildings: new teaching blocks, special educational needs (SEN) provision, extensions and condition projects. To choose one for a capital project, check that the firm is RIBA Chartered, that it has designed and delivered finished school buildings (and SEN schools, if that is your project), that it understands how your project will be funded, and that it will stay with the project from feasibility to completion on site. Appoint it through your school's or trust's own procurement process, and keep the records. That last step now matters for Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) bids as well as governance.

This guide is written for heads, school business managers and trust estates leads. It covers what an architect actually does on a school project, what to check, the questions worth asking at interview and the warning signs.

What does an architect do on a school project?

Education architects do more than draw the building. On a typical school capital project the work runs through several stages, and a good practice leads all of them.

Feasibility and the brief. The architect turns a problem (a failing block, too few classrooms, no suitable space for pupils with complex needs) into a brief, tests it against the site and gives an early view of cost. This is where most of the value is won or lost.

For an independent school planning a new boarding house, our guide to what to put in a boarding house brief shows this stage in detail, and our boarding house design page covers the service.

Design to the Department for Education's standards. The DfE publishes area guidance for school buildings (Building Bulletins 103 and 104), and some funding routes require it. CIF "condition with expansion" projects are "projects to improve the condition where the GIFA of the new block is up to 10% larger than the previous block" (GIFA is gross internal floor area), and "The aim of the project must primarily be to address significant condition need." For these, the guidance says "You must design to the area standards as defined by Building Bulletin 103 or 104 to determine what increase in GIFA, if any, is required". Separately, for expansion projects, "All CIF expansion projects should refer to the DfE’s Construction Design Standards." For special schools and alternative provision, the DfE's area guidelines for SEND and alternative provision (BB 104) set out "types of spaces and area range for buildings and grounds". An architect for schools should know these documents well enough to explain where your scheme sits against them.

Planning. Many school projects need planning permission. The DfE's [CIF 2027 to 2028 information for applicants](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ad883636bae3f806ae89eed/Condition_Improvement_Fund_-_Information_for_Applicants_2027_to_2028.pdf) puts the duty plainly: "It is your responsibility to consult your local planning authority to check if planning permission is required before applying to CIF." Your architect should advise on this early and prepare the application where one is needed.

Costed options. Before committing to one answer, the architect should set out the alternatives with their costs, benefits and risks. For a CIF bid this is now compulsory: "All applications must include a bespoke, costed options appraisal that is unique to your project." Our guide to the CIF costed options appraisal explains what the DfE scores.

Procuring the contractor and running the site. Once the design is fixed, the architect prepares the tender information, helps the school choose a contractor and then administers the building contract through to handover. The DfE's school capital funding guidance reminds schools that "Responsible bodies must ensure they secure value for money through appropriate procurement routes."

Our guide to a school's CDM 2015 duties as client explains what the school itself stays responsible for once the team is appointed.

What should you check before appointing one?

Most schools appoint an architect rarely, so it helps to have a short list of things to verify rather than rely on a good presentation.

• Chartered status. Ask whether the firm is a RIBA Chartered Practice and check the RIBA's Find an Architect directory. For CIF work the DfE says: "We strongly recommend appointing advisers who are members of recognised professional bodies", naming RICS, CIOB and RIBA among them.

• Finished school buildings. Ask to see completed schools, not only drawings or visuals. If your project is for pupils with SEN, ask specifically for SEN schools and how the design responded to the pupils who use them.

• Funding experience. If the project depends on CIF, School Condition Allocation (SCA) or another capital grant, the architect needs to know what that funding will and will not pay for, and what evidence the bid will need.

• Delivery, not just design. Check that the same practice will see the job through tender and construction. A scheme that changes hands after planning loses knowledge at the worst moment.

• Professional indemnity insurance at a level that suits the size of your project.

• Independence where it matters. The CIF guidance says "Surveys must be from an independent source", and a survey is not independent if it is conducted by a firm "that has also quoted or tendered for the work or is a manufacturer of any proposed solution". Keep the survey separate from anyone who will price or supply the works.

Procuring an architect for a school or trust

Follow your own procurement rules first, and keep the records; the same discipline is sensible for any capital project. For schools bidding to CIF, which is open to "eligible academies, sixth-form colleges and voluntary aided (VA) schools", the DfE says "Applicants must clearly explain and adequately evidence a compliant procurement process undertaken to appoint their technical adviser", and where you use one you must be able to show "that the technical adviser was formally appointed before undertaking work in connection with the project." The DfE warns that failing to evidence this "may result in the application being disqualified". For the detail, see our guides to choosing a CIF consultant and what good CIF bid support includes.

For the wider evidence a board should see before it approves the project, see what governors should check before approving a school building project.

For a CIF bid, if you decide not to employ a technical adviser, the DfE says the person responsible for the project must be suitably qualified, understand their statutory duties and "the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 Act (CDM 2015) and their responsibilities as client / principal designer", be able to provide "a comprehensive health and safety file at the end of the project", and ensure adequate indemnity insurance is in place. For most schools that is a strong argument for a professional team.

What questions should you ask an architect for schools?

Use the interview to hear how the firm thinks, not to collect promises. These questions tend to separate experienced school architects from general practices:

• Which school buildings have you designed and delivered, and can we speak to the head or business manager?

• How would you approach our site while the school stays open and pupils are on it?

• How do you test a scheme against the DfE area guidance before it goes to planning?

• What options would you expect to look at for our problem, and roughly how would they compare?

• Who in your practice will lead the project day to day, and who will run the site stage?

• How do you work with the cost consultant, and how do you keep the design inside the budget?

• What do you need from us, and by when?

Good answers are specific and refer to real buildings. Vague talk of inspiring spaces without any sense of cost, programme or the realities of a working school is worth noting.

Councils commissioning a new school can also read our article on saving costs on new school designs without compromising quality.

Red flags when appointing a school architect

Some warning signs come up again and again in school capital projects:

• A contractor or supplier that offers to do your condition survey and also quotes for the works. The DfE says a survey is not independent if it is conducted by a firm "that has also quoted or tendered for the work or is a manufacturer of any proposed solution".

• No appointment in writing, or a suggestion that the paperwork can wait until the bid is in.

• A ready-made options appraisal that could belong to any school. The DfE wants one "that is unique to your project."

• No finished school buildings to show, or only small works when your project is a new block.

• Promises of a funding outcome. No adviser controls a DfE decision.

• A design team that disappears after planning, leaving the school to manage tender and construction alone.

See also our article on common mistakes councils make when commissioning school architecture.

For councils overseeing a school estate, our practical guide to what Ofsted and the DfE look for in school facilities covers the DfE's area guidelines, safeguarding and SEND access, with a checklist.

Many projects start with a survey of the existing buildings. Our guides to education building surveys and condition surveys for special schools explain what school leaders need before planning improvements.

If your project depends on CIF: timing

For CIF 2027-28, the application deadline is "12 noon, 15 December 2026". New applicants must register for a CIF portal account by "12 noon, 30 November 2026". The DfE advises against sharing your CIF portal log-in with any third party, as "this presents an increased risk of fraud". If you do share it, the Accounting Officer "remains accountable for all action taken and information submitted in the account". Using an adviser is optional (the DfE says "this isn’t a mandatory requirement"), but if you want one, start procuring early: an architect appointed a few weeks before a deadline has little time to do the work properly, and the same will apply if a further round opens. Our guide to the CIF key dates and rule changes sets out the rest.

Related guides

• School building grants in England: the capital funding routes for new facilities

• From school condition assessment to a five-year plan: turning survey findings into costed priorities

• School condition surveyors: what the role covers in a CIF bid and how to choose one

• School Condition Allocation (SCA): how academy trusts should prioritise the money

How Grayling Thomas Architects works as an architect for schools

Grayling Thomas Architects, incorporated in 2010, is a RIBA Chartered Practice that designs and delivers large school and SEN buildings, from masterplanning and design through to delivery. Our education and SEN architecture pages show our school work, including the Bishop Loveday Classroom Block.

The practice was CIF bid writer, lead consultant and architect for Dorothy Goodman School in Hinckley, a new building for an existing special school, funded through the Condition Improvement Fund. The building was the winner, Large Non-Residential Scheme of the Year 2019 (Procon Leicestershire).

When a project depends on CIF, we act as lead consultant and architect and prepare the evidence, design and costed options with the school, so the bid and the building are planned together. Our CIF funding page explains how that works. Any appointment should follow your own procurement process, and we are glad to provide what you need for it. To talk about a school building project, contact the practice.