Understanding the performance of schools in new buildings

What is it about?

By creating a large database covering all secondary schools in England for the past 13 years, this paper examines the impact of the new buildings they moved into. Focusing on the Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF), it found that the new building had little impact, but the process of building a new building improved the school performance.

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Why is it important?

Whereas most school studies have focused on a few buildings or on specific aspects, this study has examined 75 new buildings and looked at the pattern of improvement. While the new school performance has increased with the new building, it also significantly increased prior to the occupation of the new building. This suggests that the very action of building a new school improves the school performance, not just the building.