The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has criticised Education Secretary Michael Gove’s flat pack approach to designing schools.

RIBA have slammed the Education Funding Agency’s plans for a standardisation of the design and construction of schools in the future.

The Institute claims the new 'flat-pack' approach would be inflexible, leading to a deprivation of quality environments for both teachers and pupils.

RIBA President Angela Brady said: "Our students, teachers and local communities deserve great schools - environments that are beneficial to the best-quality teaching and learning. In these times of austerity of course we need to cut our cloth on all spending; however, the government's proposals for the design and construction of future schools are far too restrictive with too much focus on short-term savings."


The RIBA has listed five "key concerns" regarding the government’s new approach: namely, that a one-size-fits-all approach might deprive schools of new developments in pedagogy and technology.

The Institute has also claimed the government’s plans would not ensure discipline and student well being, would ignore the safeguarding of environmental comfort, disregard statutory requirements for accessibility and inclusion and would fail to deliver long term sustainability and value.

Ms Brady added: "Improvements must be made to the proposals to make sure that the schools we build now will suit the future generations of children that will learn in them, and deliver what the community needs in the longer term."

(IT/GK)