schoolfeasibility.co.uk
A brief-builder for school feasibility studies

School feasibility study (UK), priced and scoped before you write the ITT.

For academy bursars and estates directors scoping a £15-40k feasibility engagement that has to clear governors and the ESFA, this site emits a defensible fee envelope, a deliverables checklist, and a green/amber/red funding-eligibility verdict - with primary citations on every figure.

Authored by Oliver Wakefield-Smith, Founder of Digital Signet. Working from RIBA Plan of Work 2020, RICS NRM1, BB103/BB104 and ESFA CIF 2026-27 rules.
If you have five minutes before a governors' meeting
A UK school feasibility study at RIBA Stage 0-2, with a small multidisciplinary team and BB103 area maths, typically sits between £15,000 and £40,000 over six to ten weeks. The fee is rarely funded upfront. CIF will only reimburse post-award, SRP funds it from Cohort 4, and the £710m Renewal & Retrofit Programme is structured to cover pre-construction work. CIF 2025-26 guide
Decision tree
  1. Q1Which funding route are you bidding?
  2. Q2What is the project?
  3. Q3What phase of school?
  4. Q4How far should the study go?
Fee envelope£17,750 - £29,000
£17,750
£23,500
£29,000
LowMedian (ESFA tick)High
Programme: 6-10 weeks
CIFAMBER

CIF does not fund feasibility upfront; the fee must be carried by the trust until award, when reasonable pre-construction costs can be recovered through the CIF award. Treat as cashflow risk [source: CIF 2025-26 applicants' guide, verified 2026-06-24].

Deliverables checklist
  • Site survey package (topo, measured, condition, R&D2 asbestos)
    Basis: RICS measured-survey, HSG264, BB103/BB104
  • Options appraisal (do-nothing / refurb / rebuild / hybrid)
    Basis: RIBA POW 2020 Stage 0-1, HMT Green Book
  • BB103/BB104 area schedule against pupil-place target
    Basis: BB103 mainstream area guidelines
  • Cost Plan A (RICS NRM1) against BCIS rates
    Basis: RICS NRM1, BCIS Q2 2026 location factors
  • Feasibility programme and risk register
    Basis: HMT Orange Book, Construction Playbook
Governor-ready summary
This study is scoped at £17,750-£29,000 over 6-10 weeks, with CIF eligibility AMBER. CIF does not fund feasibility upfront; the fee must be carried by the trust until award, when reasonable pre-construction costs can be recovered through the CIF award. Treat as cashflow risk [source: CIF 2025-26 applicants' guide, verified 2026-06-24].
Numbers update live. Fully toggled inputs (region, team, pupil delta, pre-app, existing surveys) live at /fee-calculator.
01

A fee envelope, not a guess

Every band is built from day-rate x scope-day with a BCIS regional factor and cross-checked against the only two consultants who publish a rate. Extension Architecture published rate

See fee benchmarks ›
02

A deliverables checklist a bursar can defend

Each line is tagged to its standard: BB103/BB104 area schedule, NRM1 Cost Plan A, HSG264 asbestos R&D2, RICS measured survey, RIBA Stage gates. RIBA POW 2020

See deliverables library ›
03

A grant-eligibility verdict, in colour

Green, amber or red against CIF, SRP, SCA, VAP and the £710m Renewal & Retrofit Programme, with the rule referenced. £710m R&R

See funding routes ›

RIBA Plan of Work 2020 - where a feasibility study sits

A school feasibility study almost always spans RIBA Stages 0 to 2. Stage 0 frames the strategic question (do we even need a building?), Stage 1 captures the brief and commissions surveys, and Stage 2 takes a concept design forward to a planning pre-application and a Cost Plan A. Bidding into CIF Section C requires at least Stage 1 evidence; the strongest CIF bids carry Stage 2 outputs. CIF programme page

Six canonical brief templates

Choose the closest template to your project. Each one carries a worked fee envelope, the deliverables checklist, the RIBA stage span, and a paste-ready ITT block.