Section 2: School condition

A school’s condition is the current state of its fabric. This concerns the state of repair of features or facilities that exist as part of the school fabric and as part of its current design and includes the adequacy and appropriateness of the design, security of the school fabric, contents and occupants and general health and safety requirements.

The following ratings are used to measure school condition:

A. Good – Performing well and operating efficiently

B. Satisfactory – Performing adequately but showing minor deterioration

C. Poor – Showing major defects and/or not operating adequately

D. Bad – Economic life expired and/or risk of failure

Further details on school condition ratings are available in the Background Notes.

The proportion of schools in good or satisfactory condition has increased 4.7 percentage points from 86.0 per cent in April 2017 to 90.7 per cent in April 2023 (Figure 3). There has been an increase of 29.6 percentage points from 61.1 per cent in 2007 when this data collection began (see supplementary tables for data prior to 2017).This is a result of investment and reorganisation of the school estate.

The number of schools with a poor or bad condition rating has continued to drop with 10 fewer reported than in 2022 (down from 234 to 224) and 126 fewer than in 2017. The number of schools with good or satisfactory ratings has remained stable over the last four years. 

Taking into account the number of pupils in each school, there has been a 4.1 percentage point increase in the proportion of pupils educated in good or satisfactory condition schools from 87.4 per cent in April 2017 to 91.5 per cent in April 2023 (Figure 5). This is an increase of 30.7 percentage points from 60.8 per cent in 2007 when this collection started (supplementary tables).

There are 26,095 fewer pupils in schools in schools with poor or bad condition ratings than in 2017 although there has been a slight increase since last year with 1,480 more pupils than in 2022.

A condition rating may not be available for special schools where attendance is solely by pupils who are enrolled at a different school which has been separately reported in the survey. Condition ratings may also not be available for newly built schools or schools based in buildings outwith the school estate such as hospitals. In 2023 condition ratings were not recorded for 6 schools: two special schools located in hospitals, three special school support hubs where pupils were enrolled at other schools and one newly opened school.

Figure 2: Number of schools with a poor or bad condition rating has fallen

The number of schools by condition rating from 2017 to 2023 [Note 2].

Figure 3: Percentage of schools with a poor or bad condition rating has fallen

The percentage of schools by condition rating from 2017 to 2023 [Note 2].

Figure 4: Number of pupils in schools with a poor or bad condition rating has risen

The number of pupils on roll by school condition rating from 2017 to 2023.

Figure 5: Percentage of pupils in schools with a poor or bad condition rating has risen

The percentage of pupils on roll by school condition rating from 2017 to 2023 .

Note 2: Three primary schools in East Lothian have split site campuses and submitted two School Estate Core Facts Survey returns. These schools are included twice in the school counts in this table, pupil roll figures are not affected.