MARK Education Trust secures £1.7 million in Condition Improvement Funding

We are delighted to announce that MARK Education Trust has been successful in securing £1.7 million from the government’s Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) to support essential building improvements across our schools.

This year, although only seven projects were awarded funding across East Sussex, MARK Education Trust was successful in securing funding for four out of six bids submitted. These projects will directly benefit Beacon Academy, Uplands Academy and Hailsham Community College, which will officially become Hailsham Academy when it joins the trust on 1 September 2025. 

The awarded funds will be used to carry out vital roofing, heating and fire safety upgrades, helping to ensure that our schools remain safe, warm, and fit for purpose.

These works will have a positive impact, not only on current and future students and staff across all three schools, but also on the many families, organisations and partners who are part of our wider school communities. For example, among the works is a significant boiler upgrade at Uplands Academy, which will enhance comfort for students and staff and improve community use of the Sports Centre in Wadhurst. The improvements at Beacon Academy will also benefit students and staff at Grove Park School, with whom we currently share our Beacon Academy sites. 

Planning for these improvements is already underway, with works due to begin in Term 6 and continue throughout the summer holidays, aiming for completion by the end of Term 2 of next academic year.

This funding builds on previous successful CIF bids that enabled heating upgrades at Beacon Academy and ongoing safeguarding and fire compliance projects at Uplands Academy. The impact of these projects has been widely felt and appreciated by students, staff and the wider community.

We are incredibly grateful for the continued support of Nus Ghani MP, who has been working with us to ensure that the Department for Education is aware of the urgent need for these improvements.

MARK Education Trust remains committed to pursuing CIF funding each year to invest in the long-term development of its schools and create the best possible learning environments for all.

For more information about the Condition Improvement Fund, visit the DfE website.