When school leaders think about the Condition Improvement Fund, they typically picture urgent repairs: leaking roofs, failing boilers, or crumbling masonry. And while the majority of CIF funding does address these maintenance essentials, there's a less widely understood opportunity hidden within the programme, one that can unlock genuine transformation rather than simply keeping the lights on.

A small but significant portion of CIF funding is allocated to expansion projects: new classroom blocks, science facilities, or even entire school buildings. Yet few schools successfully navigate this route, often because they don't realise it exists or understand how to position their bid strategically. The result? Thousands of pounds in potential funding goes unclaimed each year, while schools with genuine capacity challenges continue to operate in overcrowded, inadequate facilities.

This article unpacks the expansion element of CIF funding, explains how to combine condition improvement with strategic growth, and offers practical guidance for schools preparing bids for the 2025–2026 funding round. Whether you're planning additional classrooms to meet rising pupil numbers or considering a replacement block that addresses both condition and capacity, understanding this underutilised funding stream could be the key to securing your school's future.

What is CIF Expansion Funding?

The Condition Improvement Fund is administered by the Department for Education (DfE) and primarily supports academies, sixth-form colleges, and voluntary-aided schools in maintaining and improving their estate. While most successful bids focus on condition-related projects, replacing windows, upgrading heating systems, or addressing structural issues—CIF also accommodates expansion projects that increase a school's capacity or replace undersized, outdated facilities.

Expansion projects typically fall into two categories:

Capacity expansion: Adding new teaching spaces to accommodate increased pupil numbers, such as additional classrooms, dining facilities, or sports halls.

Replacement blocks: Demolishing and rebuilding substandard facilities with modern, fit-for-purpose alternatives, often science blocks, specialist teaching areas, or entire school buildings.

The crucial distinction is that these projects must still address an underlying condition need. The DfE doesn't fund expansion for growth's sake alone; your bid must demonstrate that existing facilities are inadequate, unsafe, or no longer suitable for their intended purpose. This dual requirement, poor condition plus capacity or suitability challenges, is what makes expansion bids more complex, but also potentially more impactful.

Consider Dorothy Goodman School, a special educational needs school in Leicestershire. Grayling Thomas Architects secured £6.2 million in CIF funding to deliver an entirely new school building, a rare achievement that replaced severely inadequate facilities with a purpose-designed environment tailored to the needs of pupils with complex learning requirements. This wasn't simply about adding space; it was about replacing a failing estate with a transformational facility that fundamentally improved educational outcomes.

Why Expansion Projects Represent a Strategic Opportunity

Most schools approach CIF funding reactively, submitting bids only when an urgent repair becomes unavoidable. This reactive approach often results in piecemeal maintenance projects that address immediate problems without considering long-term strategic needs. Expansion-focused bids, by contrast, require forward planning and a comprehensive understanding of how your estate can support your educational vision.

Here's why expansion projects deserve serious consideration:

Higher funding ceilings: While typical condition improvement projects might secure £50,000 to £500,000, expansion projects can access significantly larger sums—often running into millions of pounds, because they address multiple needs simultaneously.

Long-term value: A new classroom block or science facility doesn't just fix today's problems; it positions your school for future growth, demographic shifts, and evolving curriculum requirements.

Competitive advantage: Fewer schools pursue expansion bids, partly due to their complexity and partly due to lack of awareness. This means less competition for a pool of funding that's specifically ring-fenced for larger-scale projects.

Improved educational outcomes: Modern, well-designed facilities directly impact teaching quality and pupil wellbeing. Expansion projects create opportunities to embed best practice in learning environment design, from flexible teaching spaces to improved accessibility.

The challenge lies in positioning your bid correctly. The DfE evaluates expansion projects against strict criteria, and success requires demonstrating not only that your current facilities are inadequate, but that expansion represents the most cost-effective solution to your estate challenges.

Understanding the CIF Allocation: Where Expansion Fits

To appreciate the expansion opportunity, it helps to understand CIF's overall allocation model. In recent funding rounds, the DfE has distributed approximately £550 million to £600 million annually through CIF, with the vast majority supporting straightforward condition improvement projects.

Expansion projects account for a smaller percentage, estimates suggest 10 to 15 percent of total CIF funding- but this still represents tens of millions of pounds available specifically for larger-scale, growth-oriented work. The DfE doesn't publish exact breakdowns, but analysis of successful bids reveals that expansion projects, while fewer in number, command substantially higher individual allocations.

What does this mean in practice? If you're submitting a bid for roof repairs alone, you're competing in a crowded field where success often depends on demonstrating critical need and achieving the best value-for-money scores. If you're submitting a bid for a replacement classroom block that addresses both deteriorating condition and inadequate capacity, you're entering a less competitive category where the potential funding available per project is significantly higher.

This isn't to suggest that expansion bids are easy to secure, far from it. But for schools with genuine capacity challenges alongside condition issues, pursuing expansion funding strategically can unlock transformational investment that maintenance-only bids simply cannot match.

How to Strengthen Your Expansion Bid: Combining Condition and Growth

The most successful CIF expansion bids share a common characteristic: they demonstrate that condition improvement and capacity enhancement are inseparable. Rather than treating these as distinct challenges, winning bids show how addressing one naturally necessitates addressing the other.

Consider these strategic approaches:

Start with condition assessment: Your expansion bid must be grounded in robust evidence of poor building condition. Commission a detailed condition survey that documents structural defects, failing systems, and health and safety concerns. The DfE places significant weight on objective condition data, so investing in professional assessment is essential.

Link condition to suitability: It's not enough to show that a building is in poor condition; you must demonstrate that its current configuration no longer supports effective teaching and learning. For example, undersized science labs, inadequate ventilation, or non-compliant accessibility features all strengthen the case for replacement rather than repair.

Quantify capacity pressures: Provide clear evidence of rising pupil numbers, demographic trends, or curriculum changes that increase demand for specialist teaching spaces. Local authority pupil projections, admission data, and community planning documents all support this narrative.

Demonstrate cost-effectiveness: The DfE evaluates whether expansion represents better value than alternative solutions such as refurbishment or reconfiguration. Your bid should include cost comparisons and explain why new-build or replacement is the most sustainable long-term option.

Align with educational priorities: Show how your expansion project supports broader educational goals, whether that's improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, enhancing STEM provision, or meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The DfE prioritises projects that deliver measurable educational benefits.

This integrated approach positions expansion not as a nice-to-have growth initiative, but as an essential response to urgent estate challenges. It transforms your bid from a request for additional space into a compelling case for investment in educational infrastructure that addresses multiple critical needs simultaneously.

The Feasibility Assessment: Your First Critical Step

Before submitting any CIF expansion bid, conducting a thorough feasibility assessment is non-negotiable. This early-stage analysis determines whether your project is viable, cost-effective, and likely to succeed, and it shapes every aspect of your bid submission.

A robust feasibility assessment should address:

Site constraints: Can your existing site accommodate expansion? Are there planning restrictions, access limitations, or environmental considerations that could complicate development?

Design options: What are the alternative approaches to meeting your needs? Could you extend existing buildings, construct a standalone block, or replace facilities entirely? Each option carries different cost and programme implications.

Budget realism: What will your project actually cost? Feasibility studies should include quantity surveyor input to ensure your budget aligns with current construction prices and includes appropriate contingencies.

Programme viability: Can the project be delivered within the CIF timeline? The DfE typically expects projects to complete within 12 to 18 months, so your feasibility assessment must confirm that your proposed programme is achievable.

Planning and regulatory compliance: What approvals will you need? Understanding planning requirements, building regulations, and any listed building or conservation area considerations early prevents delays and strengthens your bid.

This feasibility work isn't just about satisfying the DfE's requirements, it's about ensuring that your project is genuinely deliverable and that you're not committing your school to an overly ambitious scheme that could stall or exceed budget. At Grayling Thomas Architects, we've seen too many schools submit underdeveloped expansion bids that fail because fundamental feasibility questions weren't addressed upfront. The most successful projects begin with rigorous early-stage analysis that identifies potential obstacles before they become problems.

Common Pitfalls in CIF Expansion Bids (and How to Avoid Them)

Even well-intentioned expansion bids can fail if they don't address the DfE's evaluation criteria effectively. Based on our experience supporting schools through the CIF process, these are the most common weaknesses we encounter:

Insufficient condition evidence: Many expansion bids fail because they don't provide convincing evidence that existing facilities are genuinely beyond economic repair. Anecdotal descriptions of "poor condition" aren't sufficient; you need professional surveys, photographic evidence, and clear documentation of defects.

Weak strategic justification: Simply stating that you need more space isn't enough. Your bid must explain why expansion is necessary, how it aligns with your school development plan, and what educational outcomes it will support.

Unrealistic costings: Budget estimates that seem too low raise red flags, suggesting that schools haven't fully understood project complexity. Conversely, inflated budgets may be rejected on value-for-money grounds. Accurate, professionally prepared cost plans are essential.

Poor value-for-money scores: The DfE assesses cost per square metre and compares your project against industry benchmarks. If your proposal is significantly more expensive than comparable projects, it's unlikely to succeed unless you can justify the additional cost.

Inadequate project management capacity: Expansion projects require significant management resource. Schools that cannot demonstrate they have the expertise—either in-house or through external advisors, to deliver complex construction projects are less likely to receive funding.

The solution to these pitfalls is straightforward: invest time and resource in bid preparation. Work with experienced education architects who understand the CIF process, commission professional surveys and cost estimates, and ensure your submission directly addresses each element of the DfE's evaluation criteria.

The Grayling Thomas Approach: Strategic CIF Expansion

At Grayling Thomas Architects, our approach to CIF funding is fundamentally different from practices that treat it as routine maintenance work. We specialise in school development and see CIF funding as a vehicle for realising transformational education projects, not just maintaining buildings.

Our focus is the smaller percentage of CIF funding allocated to expansion and large-scale replacement projects. We've secured funding for new science blocks, classroom wings, and entire school buildings, including the £6.2 million Dorothy Goodman School, a rare achievement that demonstrates our expertise in pursuing and delivering truly transformational projects.

When you work with us on CIF expansion funding, you're partnering with architects who understand how to build compelling cases for projects that expand capacity, improve learning outcomes, and serve evolving community needs. We approach each bid strategically:

Early engagement: We work with schools well before submission deadlines to assess feasibility, develop design concepts, and ensure projects are genuinely deliverable.

Evidence-led bids: Our submissions are grounded in robust condition data, cost analysis, and educational needs assessment, providing the DfE with clear justification for investment.

Design quality: We don't just secure funding, we deliver exceptional educational environments designed to last, incorporating best practice in learning space design, sustainability, and accessibility.

End-to-end support: From initial feasibility through to construction completion, we guide schools through every stage of the process, managing complexity so you can focus on educational leadership.

This strategic approach means we're not simply helping schools patch up ageing buildings; we're enabling them to reimagine what their estate can be and securing the funding to make that vision real.

Preparing for the 2025–2026 CIF Round: Practical Next Steps

If you're considering an expansion bid for the upcoming CIF funding round, early preparation is critical. The DfE typically opens applications in late autumn, with submission deadlines in early spring. That might seem like ample time, but developing a robust expansion bid, complete with feasibility studies, design concepts, and cost plans, requires months of groundwork.

Here's your action plan:

Assess strategic need: Evaluate your school's capacity challenges, pupil number projections, and curriculum requirements. Does expansion align with your school development plan?

Commission condition surveys: Obtain professional assessment of buildings you're considering for replacement or expansion. Document defects thoroughly.

Engage architects early: Partner with education architecture specialists who understand CIF funding and can guide feasibility assessment, design development, and bid preparation.

Develop outline designs: Create concept designs that demonstrate how your project addresses both condition and capacity needs, and that align with DfE space standards and building guidelines.

Prepare cost plans: Work with quantity surveyors to develop realistic budget estimates that reflect current construction prices and include appropriate contingencies.

Review governance and project management capacity: Ensure your governing body understands the commitment required to deliver an expansion project and that you have appropriate project management support in place.

Schools that begin this preparatory work now will be well-positioned to submit competitive bids when applications open. Those that wait until the last minute inevitably submit weaker applications that haven't been properly developed or costed.

Conclusion: Expansion as Opportunity

The Condition Improvement Fund is often seen as a lifeline for urgent repairs—a reactive mechanism for addressing estate problems as they emerge. But for schools willing to think strategically, CIF expansion funding represents something far more valuable: an opportunity to transform educational environments, increase capacity, and create facilities that genuinely serve pupils' needs.

The challenge lies in understanding how expansion bids differ from routine condition improvement projects, and in investing the time and expertise required to develop compelling submissions. Schools that approach CIF reactively, focusing only on immediate maintenance needs, miss the chance to access substantially larger funding pots that could deliver transformational change.

As you consider your school's estate strategy and prepare for the 2025–2026 CIF round, ask yourself: are you simply maintaining buildings, or are you building a vision for what your school could become? With the right approach, CIF funding can be the catalyst that turns that vision into reality.

If you're exploring expansion possibilities and want to discuss how CIF funding could support your school's development, early feasibility assessment is the essential first step. Understanding your site's potential, the viability of different design options, and the realistic costs involved will determine whether expansion is achievable, and how to position your bid for success.

About Grayling Thomas Architects

Grayling Thomas Architects specialises in education architecture and strategic CIF funding for expansion and transformational projects. We've secured millions in CIF funding for schools across the UK, delivering exceptional learning environments that support educational excellence. To discuss your school's expansion plans, contact our team for an initial consultation.