Condition projects and the A/B/C/D grading.
ESFA uses a four-grade condition scale derived from the Condition of School Buildings Survey methodology. C-grade is the sweet spot: severe enough to score, not so severe that the bid is escalated to an SRP route.
Compiled by Oliver Wakefield-Smith, founder, Digital Signet. Reviewed against ESFA Information for Applicants 2026-27 and the Condition Funding Methodology March 2026 revision.
The four grades
A - good (no remedial work required). B - satisfactory (minor or cyclical work). C - poor (significant remedial work required, performance degraded). D - bad (life-expired, replacement essential, risk to operation).
Why C is the sweet spot
C-grade is severe enough to score on Project Need without being severe enough to be picked up by SRP. D-grade elements often belong in an SRP nomination if the school as a whole is in poor condition.
Converting B-reading evidence into a C-grade narrative
A surveyor's B-grade reading sometimes understates the operational risk. The bid narrative must paraphrase the surveyor's observations and demonstrate the C-grade threshold criteria against the published condition methodology.
Bids that underperform
Cosmetic refresh, low-risk fabric upgrades, end-of-life replacement of items still operationally sound. The pattern across published outcomes is consistent: bids without a Project Need narrative tied to a graded element do not score.