Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 2

The Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999

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© Crown Copyright 1999

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"the 1998 Act" means the School Standards and Framework Act 1998[2];

"boarding school" means a school with boarding pupils whether or not it also has day pupils;

"circulation space" means any passageway, corridor, entrance hall, stairs or upstairs landing;

"glare index" has the same meaning as in, and shall be calculated in accordance with, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers Technical Memoranda, "TM10: The Calculation of Glare Indices 1985"[3];

"maintained illuminance" has the same meaning as in the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers Code for Interior Lighting 1994[4];

"physical education" includes the playing of games;

"sanitary fitting" means a water closet or urinal;

"school" means, subject to paragraph (5), a school maintained by a local education authority;

"school building" means any building or part of a building forming part of a school (including any temporary or moveable building);

"special school" means, subject to paragraph (5), a special school maintained by a local education authority;

"staff", in relation to a school, means both teachers and other persons employed at the school;

"teaching accommodation" means accommodation provided for teaching purposes including nursery playroom accommodation;

"team game playing fields" means any playing fields within the meaning (in relation to both England and Wales) of section 77 of the 1998 Act which, having regard to their configuration, are suitable for the playing of team games and which are laid out for that purpose;

"washroom" means a room containing at least one sanitary fitting and at least one washbasin;

"a wholesome supply of water for domestic purposes" shall be construed in accordance with regulations made under section 67 of the Water Industry Act 1991[5];

"working plane" means the horizontal, vertical or inclined surface on which any task is carried out.

    (2) For the purposes of these Regulations a pupil has "special requirements" if he has any needs arising from physical, medical, sensory, learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties which require provision in terms of any of the facilities referred to in regulation 3 or regulation 9 which is additional to or different from that generally required by children of his age in schools other than special schools.

    (3) In these Regulations, the abbreviations "m", "m²" and "°C" are used to denote the expressions "metre", "square metre" and "degree Celsius" respectively.

    (4) In relation to a school any reference in these Regulations to the number of pupils, number of pupils of a specified age, or the number of boarding pupils is a reference to the number from time to time determined in accordance with Schedule 1.

    (5) In relation to any period before 1st September 1999 - 

"school" shall include a grant-maintained or grant-maintained special school; and

"special school" shall include a grant-maintained special school.

    (6) In the case of a school with pupils who have not attained the age of 5 years, at least one shower, bath or deep sink shall be provided for every 40 such pupils, the number of such pupils being rounded up to the nearest multiple of 40.

    (7) Changing accommodation including showers shall be provided for pupils who have attained the age of 11 years and who are in receipt of physical education and that accommodation shall be readily accessible from the school grounds and from any accommodation provided for physical education within the school buildings.

Washrooms for staff
     4.  - (1) In every school there shall be a washroom or washrooms which are adequate for the number of staff at the school.

    (2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), washrooms for staff shall be separate from washrooms for pupils (but nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the same washrooms from being provided for staff and visitors.)

    (3)

(a) A washroom which fulfils the conditions set out in sub-paragraph (b) may be provided for use by any pupil, member of staff or visitor to the school.

(b) The conditions referred to in sub-paragraph (a) are that:


(i) the washroom makes provision (in so far as it is in the circumstances both practicable and reasonable) for the needs of persons using the premises who are disabled;

(ii) of the facilities referred to in paragraph (2) to (7) of regulation 3, the only ones provided in the washroom are one water closet and one washbasin with or without one shower or one deep sink; and

(iii) any door of the washroom is capable of being secured from the inside and opens directly onto a circulation space other than stairs.

Medical accommodation
     5.  - (1) In every school there shall be accommodation for - 

(a) the medical or dental examination and treatment of pupils; and

(b) the care of sick or injured pupils.

    (2) The accommodation provided in pursuance of this regulation shall contain a washbasin and be reasonably near a water closet.

    (3) Account may be taken for the purposes of this regulation of accommodation (not being teaching accommodation) provided otherwise than for the purposes mentioned in paragraph (1) but which is both appropriate and readily available for those purposes, in particular, in the case of a boarding school, of sick room accommodation provided in pursuance of regulation 12.

Staff accommodation
     6.  - (1) In the case of - 

(a) a nursery school;

(b) a special school; or

(c) any other school with more than 120 pupils, other than a pupil referral unit,

the school shall include a head teacher's room.

    (2) Every school, other than a pupil referral unit, shall include accommodation for use by the teachers at the school, for the purposes of work (otherwise than in teaching accommodation) and for social purposes.

Ancillary facilities
     7. The buildings provided for a school shall be adequate to permit the provision of appropriate ancillary facilities, in particular - 

(a) for the storing and drying of pupils' outdoor clothing and for the storing of their other belongings; and

(b) for the preparation or serving of food and drinks and the washing of crockery and other utensils,

and to permit the safe and convenient passage of persons and movement of goods within the buildings.

    (4) There shall be at least one bath or shower for every ten boarding pupils and at least 25% of the minimum number of such fittings shall be baths.

    (5) Fittings required by this regulation are in addition to those required by regulation 3 save that where the fittings required by regulation 3 are reasonably accessible to the sleeping accommodation and in an appropriate location having regard to their use by boarding pupils they may be taken into account for the purposes of this regulation.

    (6) Where in paragraphs (2) to (4) of this regulation the number of pupils to be used in the calculation is not an exact multiple of three, four, five or ten as the case may be, then it shall be rounded up to the next number which is such a multiple.

Living accommodation
     10.  - (1) A boarding school shall include living accommodation (both for the purposes of private study outside school hours and for social purposes) for the boarding pupils at the school of an aggregate floor area not less than 2.3m² for each such pupil.

    (2) In the case of a school where either - 

(a) some or all of the sleeping accommodation comprises study bedrooms or cubicles; or

(b) the boarding accommodation is adjacent to other school accommodation which is appropriate for use outside school hours as living accommodation for boarding pupils,

then such accommodation may be taken into account for the purposes of this regulation.

Accommodation for the preparation and consumption of meals
     11.  - (1) A boarding school shall include accommodation - 

(a) for the preparation or serving of meals for boarding pupils; and

(b) in which such pupils may eat meals.

    (2) If the boarding accommodation is adjacent to other school accommodation which is appropriate for use as mentioned in paragraph (1), that other accommodation may be taken into account for the purposes of this regulation.

Sick rooms
     12.  - (1) A boarding school shall include, as part of the boarding accommodation - 

(a) one or more sick rooms;

(b) if the school has more than 40 boarding pupils, one or more separate isolation rooms; and

(c) associated facilities by way of baths, washbasins and water closets,

which satisfy the requirements of paragraphs (2) and (3).

    (2) In the case of a school with both male and female boarding pupils, any of whom have attained the age of 8 years, separate sick rooms shall be provided for male pupils and for female pupils.

    (3) The floor area of a sick room or isolation room shall not be less than 7.4m² for each bed and there shall be a distance of not less than 1.8m between any two beds in a sick room or isolation room.

    (4) A cubicle for a single pupil shall have its own window.

Staff accommodation
     13. The accommodation provided for persons employed as residential staff at a boarding school shall be separate from that provided for the pupils and include, in particular - 

(a) accommodation in which meals may be taken;

(b) sleeping accommodation; and

(c) associated facilities by way of water closets, washbasins, baths and showers.

Storage facilities
     14. A boarding school shall include adequate storage facilities for pupils' belongings and adequate facilities for the storage and care of linen.

[2] 1998 c. 31.back

[3] Copies may be obtained from the CIBSE Publications Department, Delta House, 222 Balham High Road, London SW12 9BS.back

[4] ISBN 0 900953 64 0. Copies may be obtained from the CIBSE Publications Department, Delta House, 222 Balham High Road, London SW12 9BS.back

[5] The Regulations currently in force are the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989 (S.I. 1989/1147; amended by S.I. 1989/1384, 1991/1837, 2790) and the Private Water Supplies Regulations 1991 (S.I. 1991/2790).back