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Schools can travel a long way through their decarbonisation journey without need for much additional funding. For example, the ABCs and inserting energy efficient features don’t require much funding. These investments may even save you money!
For those items which do require additional funding you can find your options below. Helpfully, a new guide has been produced to assist in navigating the complex financial journey of decarbonisation – this can be accessed here.
Run by: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Carbon (via Salix)
Open to: All public sector bodies
Funding Opens: PSDS4 is now closed. THERE WILL BE NO FURTHER ROUNDS OF PSDS or Low Carbon Skills Funding (LCSF)
Successful PSDS4 Applicants can be found here. It includes around £5M for Diocesan Boards of Education and a further £6.7M for MATs with Church of England schools.
If anything is developed to replace PSDS we will include this on this page.
This was the only funding pot which will really funded the full decarbonisation of schools. Our experience has indicated that some schools may require full scale roof insulation upgrades, cavity wall insulation, installation of LED lighting, installation of solar PV, the removal of oil or gas boilers to be replaced by air or ground source heat pumps, and the potential upgrade to the heating distribution system to become decarbonised.
PSDS paid for up to 88% of the costs of this but only in the most eligible buildings. Most Grant Offers that were made were in the region of 45%-65% of overall costs. The funding stream was designed to meet the needs of really energy-inefficient buildings, rather than high emitting buildings.
It is difficult to use this funding for full decarbonisation works although with air to air solutions now being explored the overall project costs could possible for SCA funding. SCA could also pay for the installation of LED lights and Solar Panels which will cut electricity costs, and importantly insulation upgrades to buildings which will cut carbon emissions by reducing the need to heat the building.
The Regional Consultants should be able to advise where these investments may best be targeted. It should be noted that Governing Boards of VA schools have a 10% liability on any SCA grant allocated.
Administered and distributed by Diocesan Boards of Education for Voluntary Aided Schools
Open to: Voluntary Aided schools only and VC Schools through their Local Authorities
Government Grant Funding calculated annually
Governing Funding via Department for Education
Capital funding allocated directly to individual schools annually, but often administered through Diocesan Boards of Education. This can be rolled-forward for three years to secure a larger-pot of funding available for the school.
DFC can be a useful funding source for schools to access for relatively low-cost but high-impact fabric improvement works. With the additional DFE provided in December 2022 specifically for improvements designed to save energy, many schools will have access to enough funding to install LED lights, or add new or additional insulation to walls and roof spaces. This will all help reduce heating and electricity bills – often by significant amounts. Some schools may even have enough to purchase Solar PVs
Some Boards of Education may encourage schools to use DFC for energy-efficient or energy-saving products by allocating small amounts of SCA to help projects ‘get over the line’.
VA schools should contact their Boards of Education to discuss further.
This is competitive government funding open only for Academies. Bids are submitted on an annual basis to a central body. Putting together bids and applications is not necessarily straightforward, and grants are awarded based on the collective need of the academy sector and building priorities at the time.
Run by: Government Funding
Open to: Allocated to academies only through competitive bids on an annual basis through a national process administered by the DfE
Deadline Bids: Early December