A bursar's handbook to the Condition Improvement Fund.
The interactive reference layer for the ESFA Information for Applicants 2026-27. Written for single-academy trust SBMs, small-MAT finance directors, and voluntary-aided diocesan officers compiling a competitive CIF bid and the governors' resources-committee paper that signs it off.
- [1]£456 MESFA CIF outcomes (Round 13)verified 22 May 2026
- [2]871ESFA CIF outcomes (Round 13)verified 22 May 2026
- [3]~25%ESFA outcomes (derived: funded vs submitted)verified 22 May 2026
- [4]22 MAY 2026ESFA CIF outcomes (Round 13)verified 22 May 2026
Is the applicant body a single-academy trust, a multi-academy trust with fewer than 5 schools and 3,000 pupils, a sixth-form college, or a voluntary-aided diocesan body?
Single-academy trusts, small MATs (under 5 schools and 3,000 pupils), voluntary-aided bodies, sixth-form colleges, exclusions.
Building safety, statutory compliance, condition (C/D grade), expansion. Roofs, windows, boilers.
The 60/25/15 weighting. Project Need, Project Cost, Project Planning. Bid score estimator.
Grant sizing, the £20k floor, school contribution, CIF loan terms, VAT treatment for MATs.
2026-27 calendar, 2027-28 forecast, appeals window, post-award delivery, what to do after rejection.
The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) is an annual, competitive capital grant from the Department for Education for single-academy trusts, multi-academy trusts with fewer than 5 schools and 3,000 pupils, sixth-form colleges and voluntary-aided dioceses. The 2026-27 round closed on 16 December 2025; outcomes were published on 22 May 2026; funded projects must complete by 31 March 2028. Awards average around £250,000 against an indicative funded threshold of approximately 72 of 100 on the 60/25/15 weighted scoring grid.
How to read this handbook
Read cover-to-cover the first time a trust prepares a CIF bid: the chapters follow the order a bid is constructed, from eligibility through project scoping, scoring, financial structuring, and process. Subsequent cycles use the section numbering (§01.03, §04.02 and so on) for direct lookup. Every numerical claim carries a marginalia citation to the ESFA paragraph or DfE document that supports it. Where a rule changed at the May 2026 cycle, the edition changelog records the prior wording and the new wording side by side.
The handbook does not write the bid for the trust, does not estimate individual assessor scores beyond the published 60/25/15 weighting, and does not constitute legal or financial advice. See methodology for the editorial scope and disclaimer for the liability position.
Sister handbooks for academy finance
cifbid.co.uk covers the bid-writing reference desk; bursarsdesk.co.uk covers day-to-day academy finance. Where the topic overlaps, this handbook links to the relevant paragraph rather than duplicate the content.
Compiled by Oliver Wakefield-Smith, founder, Digital Signet. Reviewed against ESFA Information for Applicants 2026-27 and the Condition Funding Methodology March 2026 revision.