The Importance Of Asset Management Plans

The Department for Education issued its School Estate Management Standards in April 2025.

This is the first in a series of blogs focussing on the Level 1 Baseline requirements which all schools are expected to have achieved.

School Estate Management Standards extract regarding asset management plans:

Area	Activities
Strategic estate management	You have an estate strategy and asset management plan in place. The asset management plan includes data about the estate, sets out action needed to maintain the estate, actions needed to achieve the estate strategy and aligns to the educational vision.

What is an Asset Management Plan?

An Asset Management Plan (AMP) is a short to medium term plan which sets out and prioritises actions to fulfil the estate strategy.  It should refer to the estate vision and strategy and provide the foundation for all estate related activities and responsibilities. 

The AMP is, therefore, a strategic document that sets out the principles of how your estate will be managed.  It should not be confused with the operational, day to day activities of your building maintenance plans although how your building maintenance plans are implemented will link back to the principles stated in your AMP. 

For example, an AMP principle may be to ensure that your school has an up-to-date building condition survey with building maintenance activities based on the priorities identified in that survey. 

What should be included in an Asset Management Plan?

The guiding principles for any AMP should be to ensure that all school buildings are safe, weatherproof, and warm, and that they provide a suitable teaching and learning environment. The objectives of your AMP should be to assist with:

• Making decisions based on an understanding of the current condition and performance of your school estate.
• Reducing and prioritising the need for maintenance.
• Controlling and optimising running costs.
• Optimising the use of your estate.

Your AMP should provide the organisational framework for the management of your estate including governance arrangements, key roles and responsibilities, and policies regarding how your land and buildings are used and managed (e.g. in relation to lettings). 

What information do you need to write your Asset Management Plan?

Your AMP should state how building and improvement works will be prioritised according to principles such as:

• The current condition of the buildings as detailed in up-to-date building condition surveys.
• Whether the building or area is fit for its current purpose (suitability).
• Whether it is sufficient for its current purpose and for future needs (sufficiency).

Your AMP should state the capital funding that your school or Trust is eligible for. This will include Devolved Formula Capital funding which is disseminated to all schools in England. Trusts are also eligible to submit applications for School Condition Funding if they are a stand-alone academy or a Trust with fewer than 3,000 students on role or less than 5 schools. Larger Trusts are allocated School Condition Allocation funding annually.

Your AMP should list the principles according to which estate asset and plant equipment maintenance will be carried out. These may include the following:

• The current condition of the asset based on professional building condition surveys.
• What action needs to be taken to ensure compliance with legislation, health and safety requirements, and asset maintenance.
• The impact of asset failure on the operation of the school.
• The potential financial and/or reputational implications of asset failure.
• Whether the asset is fit for its current purpose (suitability).
• Whether the asset is sufficient for its current purpose and for future needs (sufficiency).
• The probability of asset failure (unlikely, possible, likely, certain).
• How much the asset costs to purchase, run, maintain and eventually dispose of (total cost of ownership).
• The environmental impact of the asset.

Management of estate works

Your AMP should also detail how estate works will be co-ordinated and managed. This may include the following:

• Statutory compliance – All work that falls within the scope of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 will be carried out by a suitably qualified and competent contractor.
• Health and safety compliance – All contractors carrying out major works will be required to submit their risk assessment and method statement (RAMS) in advance of commencing the work.
• The timing of works – Some works can only be carried out during non-term time due to health and safety issues and/or the need to take estate assets, such as heating systems, out of use. Statutory compliance activities should be timed to ensure certifications do not expire before being re-issued e.g. for gas safety checks.
• Preventing disruption – All works will be planned in order to minimise risk and disruption to the operation of school premises.
• Hot work – Hot work permits will be issued to all contractors carrying out hot work, and the permit should be referenced in the contractors’ RAMS.
• Management of contractors – Clear communications regarding how contractors will be supervised whilst on site, either by the contractor, or by the school’s premises team depending upon the nature of the activity being carried out.

Managing the performance of your estate

Your AMP should reference how the performance of your estate will be monitored and managed. This may include maximising the efficiency of utility usage and the use of key performance indicators (KPIs). For example, a KPI may include monitoring the number of call outs for heating failures and subsequently identifying proactive maintenance activities to reduce these.

Reviewing your Asset Management Plan

Your AMP should be reviewed regularly and particularly in light of changing circumstances which may be organisational, financial, or directly in relation to your estate.

Where to find further information

For further information on Asset Management Plans, please see the Good Estate Management for Schools document Strategic estate documents which can be found here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f8468c3d3bf7f6ba6e77af1/A_guide_to_strategic_estate_documents.pdf