Key facts
- Modern UK school buildings are experiencing extreme heat, struggling more than older structures.
- The Climate Change Committee has criticized current adaptation plans as inadequate.
- Recommendations include fitting schools with air conditioning and reconsidering the school year.
- The Department for Education is investing in school refurbishment and climate resilience programs.
- Experts emphasize the immediate need for climate adaptation measures.
UK schools are failing to cope with rising temperatures due to a lack of adequate planning for the impacts of climate change, with even modern buildings becoming uncomfortably hot. Beaconsfield primary school in west London exemplifies this issue, where a 130-year-old building with solid brickwork maintains a more tolerable internal temperature than a neighboring structure built in 2017, which adheres to then-current Department for Education (DfE) design guidance.
Headteacher Dave Woods described how classes have sought refuge in the older building due to the extreme heat in the newer one. He noted that schools in hotter climates, like Sydney, Australia, are designed with high temperatures in mind, allowing them to remain operational. Some UK schools, regardless of age, suffer from poor design choices such as inadequate windows, poor orientation, and excessive glazing, creating greenhouse-like conditions.
Successive governments have been criticized for not addressing the issue of aging school buildings, many of which are past their lifespan and contain hazardous materials. The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the government's statutory advisors, recently reported that existing plans for adapting to extreme weather are insufficient, highlighting education as a particular concern. The CCC recommended that all schools be fitted with air conditioning by 2050 and suggested reconsidering the school year to account for high classroom temperatures.
In response, the DfE is accelerating its school refurbishment program, announcing nearly £20 billion in investment through 2035 to overhaul over 750 schools. A separate £710 million program aims to increase climate resilience in schools and colleges by 2030. However, with over 22,000 state schools and colleges, ensuring all are prepared for a hotter future will require significantly more funding and time. Experts emphasize that climate adaptation is an immediate necessity, not a future concern.