What is the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF)?

The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) is an annual fund for eligible academies, sixth-form colleges and voluntary aided (VA) schools to apply for capital funding. Administered by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) the fund is in place to address significant condition need. Successful projects address issues with health & safety, building compliance and poor building condition. In addition, CIF also supports Ofsted rated good or outstanding academies and sixth form colleges that need to expand their existing facilities to either increase the number of admissions in the main year of entry or address overcrowding issues.

To be eligible for CIF you need to be:

• A stand-alone academy
• Part of a MAT (Multi- Academy Trust) with 5 or more academies but have less than 3,000 pupils
• A sixth-form college
• A voluntary aided school (VA)

You may submit up to two projects per academy, sixth-form college or VA school but only one may be an expansion project.

The ESFA give the highest priority to condition projects that include structural safety, gas & electrical safety, fire protection systems or emergency asbestos removal. Following this priority is then given to projects that ensure weather tightness of buildings and continuous heating and water supply

 KEY CIF DATES

For submissions it is likely to follow on from previous years:

October

• Information for applicants is published and the online application window opens.

December

• Deadline for new application to register for an account
• Deadline for all applicants to submit bid applications

March

• Deadline for obtaining Regional Schools Commissioner significant change approval for expansion projects

Spring 

• Applicants are notified of outcome

At CIF Assist Ltd we believe preparation is key and by starting the process of preparing and arranging site surveys, collating supporting evidence, project need assessments and requesting and comparing contractor tenders in advance allows us to build a strong and detailed bid ready for submission.