Unfortunately, since the inception of School PFI projects, the F&E provision, where included, has been, in many cases a secondary consideration. It is accepted that this situation has generally been due to a lack of influence by the LEAs particularly over the quality of that provision. In addition in the past, the F&E budget has sometimes been under estimated. The budget has also sometimes been raided to cover other capital cost over-runs.

Whatever the reasons, the results were, in a number of cases, the creation of well-designed, well-built, but poorly equipped schools.

The biggest lesson we have to learn from this is that the current moves to modernise all of the UK’s schools needs to embrace all aspects and not just the buildings themselves. Only by taking a holistic approach and matching the quality of the F&E with that of the buildings, can we be truly building schools for the future.

It makes no sense to expend vast amounts on beautiful new schools - then equip them with £9 pupil chairs and £30 desks. The life cycle benefits of better quality and ergonomic design needs to be recognised. Raising standards should include careful consideration of how to get the best performance from our pupils. Having an appropriate F&E provision in good new schools is one key to achieving this.