Rethinking Education in the Planning System

The intersection of education and urban development is a cornerstone of any equitable society. Yet in the UK, the planning system often treats schools as an afterthought rather than as essential amenities. As the country grapples with housing shortages, population growth, and evolving community needs, education must be recognised and integrated more deliberately into the planning process as infrastructure needed to support neighbourhoods.

The current priority of increasing housing delivery brings with it a broader demand for such infrastructure. This, of course, includes transport and access to jobs but equally essential is educational capacity, accessibility by walking, cycling, and public or private transport.

Local authorities, constrained by resources and overburdened in the delivery of services—especially in the provision of special educational needs (SEN)—are often left merely reacting to the educational needs of growing populations and communities.

Conversely, declining populations or changes in age profiles can lead to falling demand and reduced support for even small-scale educational facilities.

This mismatch—between rising demand in growing areas and surplus capacity in aging communities—results in a misalignment between housing development and school provision.

Correcting this is not straightforward.

It leads to increased pressure on stretched resources, longer travel times for students, and communities lacking easy access to a crucial point of social and locational connection. Over time, this becomes normalised. Residents may relocate to areas with better amenities, further skewing local provision; adding pressure to some places while depleting others.

The introduction of free schools and academies has added another layer of complexity. While these institutions can offer flexibility and innovation, their establishment is often driven by factors other than strategic local planning. The Department for Education (DfE), rather than local authorities, oversees the creation of new free schools—leading to potential mismatches between school locations and actual areas of greatest demand.

Local Plans that focus solely on residential development in city centres risk creating a situation where pupils must be bussed out of otherwise sustainable areas into communities lacking the amenities to support them. Providing space for a primary or secondary school, with the essential associated playgrounds and sports or recreation areas in a dense urban centre is rarely seen as an efficient use of land, particularly where land values are high, making it difficult to secure delivery of such sites.

The current system of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 106 agreements is expected to be reviewed. If simplification and standardisation are genuinely pursued — as frequently promised but seldom delivered — a ring-fenced education infrastructure fund could be allocated transparently and equitably across regions. This could help address regional disparities, such as the current lack of SEN school places, which has resulted in pupils having to travel long distances away from their homes which must be an unsuitable approach for some of the most vulnerable children in the education system.

Recent discussions around the reinstatement of the Sure Start programme could serve as a model for local collaboration, offering social benefits through early years support and a network of health, education, and family services. New Sure Start hubs could anchor large-scale housing developments, helping to define character and provide a focus for a new community. This lack of cohesive social identity is a frequent criticism of recent urban extensions or new housing estates.

As part of regeneration strategies, existing buildings can be repurposed into multi-use community hubs, supported by established public transport links.

In each of these instances, the provision of early years support could serve as a foundation for the next stages of education—through-schools, primary, and secondary—creating a more sustainable and integrated network for students, families, and the wider community. These hubs could also support communities more widely through use agreements that make school facilities available outside normal hours, extending benefits to the wider population. This can include meeting places, adult education, sports and drama clubs and more of course.