SCHOOLS FRAMEWORK

Preparing for a public framework

The Department for Education's Construction Framework 2025 (CF25) is an £18.5bn route for schools and further education across England. It rewards teams who can decide quickly, compile compliant submissions, and explain every change to floor area, quantity, cost and funding.

Three coordinated outputs

Each output answers a specific problem the framework sets, with a defined requirement and a traceable result.

EOI Decision Pack

Problem: We don't have time to decide go / no-go.
Requirement: A weekly pipeline and an expression of interest that can leave as little as five days from feasibility study, cost plan and outline programme.
Output: Eligibility, capacity, comparator schemes, site and design complexity, abnormal risks, area and funding position, programme and evidence completeness — enough to say Go, No-Go or Resolve.

Competition Evidence Pack

Problem: If we go, we don't have time to compile the tender.
Requirement: Engagement-based and submission-based tender routes, invitations to submit proposals, the framework's own quality questions, pricing schedules and client engagement meetings.
Output: A submission mapped to each requirement, with the source evidence and the responsible author identified up front.

Design-to-Funding Delta Ledger

Problem: We struggle to explain why our area, £/m² or £/m³ differs.
Requirement: A fixed funding level, fixed and flexible quantities, project-specific pricing, and the stage 3 and 4 gateways.
Output: A traceable chain from requirement to space, geometry, classified object, quantity, cost, programme and carbon — each variance explained in terms the funder reads.

DfE Construction Framework Handbook 2025

Parametric study — building form

Four envelopes tested against one school brief — square, rectangle, circular and L-shaped — compared on the same basis before any scheme was priced.

Two-storey square school building form on a piled substructure.

Single-storey rectangular school building form on a piled substructure.

Circular school building form on a piled substructure.

L-shaped school building form on a piled substructure.