TEN school projects in Scotland have been awarded a share of £450-500 million as part of the Scottish Government’s £2 billion learning estate investment programme.
The initiative is a joint programme between the Scottish Government and COSLA, with it following the £1.8 billion Scotland’s schools for the future programme, which delivered 117 new or refurbished learning facilities across the country from 2009 to 2021.
The successful projects are Hazlehead Academy, Aberdeen; Mull Campus, Argyll and Bute; Lochies ASN School, Clackmannanshire; Lenzie Academy, East Dunbartonshire; Carrongrange ASN School Extension, Falkirk; Forres Academy, Moray; Chryston High School Extension, North Lanarkshire; Kirkwall ASN Centre, Orkney; Brae Campus, Shetland; and Riverside and Letham Primary School, West Lothian.
The Scottish Government’s education secretary Jenny Gilruth said, “I am determined to deliver excellence and equity across Scotland’s schools, and ensuring that pupils are educated in modern, state of the art facilities is an important part of that.
“This latest phase of the £2 billion learning estate investment programme will continue to support local authorities to deliver improvements in our school estate, and ensures continued progress in ASN provision in particular. This latest round of investment means that every Scottish local authority which submitted a bid has now received funding for a project in Phases 1, 2 or 3 the Learning Estate Investment programme.
“As a direct result of Scottish Government investment, the proportion of schools in “good” or ‘satisfactory’ condition has increased from 61% in April 2007 to 90.7% in April 2023 and this investment will build on this remarkable progress. We will continue working with COSLA to explore how we can deliver further improvements in the school estate, as well as ensuring provision in those areas experiencing population growth.”
Stephen Long, learning estate team lead at the Scottish Futures Trust, added, “We are pleased to continue our support to improving the learning estate in a wide range of communities across all parts of Scotland.
“This new phase will build on the ambition of previous phases by addressing embodied carbon, utilising zero emission heating, creating healthier learning environments and encouraging outdoor learning.”
