BUILDINGS, MAINTENANCE & REFURBISHMENT
The transformative role of offsite construction in the education sector
It’s no secret that the education sector in the UK continues to face pressing challenges, from the rising demand for school places, to the need to replace aging infrastructure and create modern classroom facilities equipped for different learning needs.
The past few months alone have seen multiple reports that towns and cities across England do not have the planned number of school places to meet expected demand, with Wigan, Luton, Liverpool, and Bolton all currently falling under for the 2026/27 school year.
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s many councils across the UK face an unwavering demand for more school places, the call for high- quality infrastructure is rising, with decision makers favouring speedy and flexible building solutions which can accommodate evolving educational needs. Dan Pollard, Production Director of leading offsite manufacturer, Thurston Group, explores how offsite construction can play a transformative part in addressing this demand, while helping schools to hit sustainability goals.
Nationally, it’s been estimated that an additional 54,800 school places are needed across England within the next two years, and areas like Coventry, Leeds, and Birmingham are facing a demand more than triple what they can currently provide.
Beyond meeting demand for places, the government has had to prioritise replacing unsafe structures through its School Rebuilding Programme (SRP), which is carrying out major rebuilding and refurbishment projects across schools and sixth form college buildings in England.
The decade-long scheme will see 500 schools rebuilt or refurbished and has been publicly supported by the Modular & Portable Building Association (MBPA), which
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www.education-today.co.uk
has emphasised the important role offsite construction can play in delivering high quality education facilities.
Offsite construction provides safe, modern, and durable buildings within significantly shorter timescales than traditional methods. From constructing additional classrooms or common areas, to building entire school blocks, offsite methods allow for quick expansion and minimal disruption, making them ideal for addressing the need for additional space and safer buildings with a much shorter time frame and minimal disruption.
Delivering on quality
Offsite construction can actually deliver equal, if not superior quality to traditional methods, as demonstrated through its alignment with RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) stages, the Farmer Review (conducted on behalf of the Construction Leadership Council) and concepts like Pre-Manufactured Value (PMV).
These interconnected concepts help to emphasise the transformational role offsite construction can play in meeting the demand for infrastructure, outlining the stages every construction project should follow, whilst talking up the importance of adopting modern
September 2025
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