Energy efficiency grants for schools: what is open in 2026
Updated 10 November 2026 · SEO Dons Editorial
This page is part of our guide to solar panels for schools grants.
The realistic picture: for energy saving the money usually comes from the school’s own budget or from a condition project it was already planning. The routes below are what exists, nation by nation, with the evidence for each.
Energy efficiency grants for schools in England
- Condition Improvement Fund (CIF): the one national bidding route still open to English schools, and only to some of them: stand-alone academies, academies and voluntary aided schools in trusts or groups with fewer than five schools or fewer than 3,000 pupils, and sixth-form colleges. It funds condition need first, and DfE says works to improve energy efficiency that do not address high-need condition issues are unlikely to be successful. The 2027–28 round is open: new applicants register for a CIF portal account by 12 noon on 30 November 2026 and submit by 12 noon on 15 December 2026 (DfE, information for applicants 2027 to 2028; gov.uk guidance).
- Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS): Phase 4 closed to new applications in November 2024 (gov.uk). Do not wait for it to reopen.
- Salix: its England page lists grant programmes for the public sector and no loan an English school can apply for (Salix England).
- Great British Energy: government selects the schools it funds for solar and contacts them, so a school cannot apply; see Great British Energy solar for schools.
Where energy saving does get funded, it is usually as part of a condition project such as a roof or heating replacement. Ask whether the work you already need can carry it.
Renewable energy and energy saving: what to use instead of a grant
- Your own capital, reserves or devolved formula capital, judged on payback: see what school solar costs and pays back.
- A power purchase agreement (PPA): a funder owns and maintains the system and the school buys the electricity, so there is no capital outlay. The saving is smaller than owning outright and the contract needs legal review. From 15 July 2026 any PPA on the school estate has to use DfE’s PPA and land-lease templates; check whether they have been published before you sign. Community energy and PPAs for schools explains the contracts.
This page gives information only. We do not arrange or recommend finance.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Scotland: Salix runs the Scottish Public Sector Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme, zero-interest loans to the public sector with up to a 12-year payback at up to £305 per tonne of CO2 (Salix), and the Scotland Recycling Fund, interest-free repayable funding matched by the public body (Salix). Both showed as open for 2026/27 when we checked on 10 November 2026. A school normally reaches them through its council.
- Wales: the Wales Funding Programme is a loan, not a grant, at a fixed 2.45% when we checked on 10 November 2026. Salix names schools among the eligible public bodies and says applications after its stated cut-off may be assessed at a revised interest rate (Salix Welsh loans).
- Northern Ireland: Power NI’s NISEP-funded grant for business solar PV (20%, capped at £30,000) has closed for applications for 2026/27; Power NI expects the next round to open in April 2027, subject to funding approval (Power NI). Invest NI’s Energy Efficiency Capital Grant is paused (Invest NI). See Northern Ireland school energy costs and funding.
Where to start
Gather twelve months of half-hourly meter data, including a holiday period, and the condition survey for each roof, then compare the routes on your own numbers. Our solar panels for schools grants guide covers each route in detail, and Salix funding for schools sets out how to apply by nation.
Energy efficiency grants for schools: questions
Is there a government grant for energy efficiency in schools?
Not one an English school can apply to on its own in 2026. The Condition Improvement Fund takes bids for condition work, the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme closed to new applications in November 2024, and Salix's England page lists grant programmes only, with no loan for schools.
Can a school get a grant for renewable energy?
In England, Great British Energy selects the schools it funds for solar, so schools cannot apply, and DfE says energy-efficiency works that do not address high-need condition issues are unlikely to succeed in a CIF bid. Scotland and Wales have public-sector loans, and Northern Ireland's NISEP grant for business solar PV has closed for applications for 2026/27.
Does Salix fund schools?
Not with a loan in England. In Scotland Salix runs zero-interest public-sector loans, and in Wales the Wales Funding Programme lends to public bodies, schools included, at a fixed rate.
Can a school bid to the Condition Improvement Fund for energy saving?
Only some schools can bid at all, and the fund is condition-led. DfE says works to improve energy efficiency that do not address high-need condition issues are unlikely to be successful, so efficiency measures and solar strengthen a roof or heating bid rather than standing as the bid.
School solar check: funding routes first
Your funding routes and solar evidence, straight away
- 1. Five quick questions — your nation, who funds your school’s building works, how you would pay, your type of school and roof, and when governors decide.
- 2. Where to send it — school name, email and postcode; everything else is optional.
- 3. Your result on the next page — the funding routes that fit a school like yours, a desk estimate of size, generation, value and payback from published sources, and a printable governor summary.