In this feature
- The opportunity needs a starting record
- Demand and consumption pattern
- Site potential and condition
- Control, works and responsible body
- Economics and institutional readiness
- Roof first, panels second
- Use the checklist and retain the decisions
The opportunity needs a starting record
A PPA can address the initial funding barrier to solar. The school still needs a suitable project and a decision route. Readiness therefore means knowing enough to move to the next assessment, with gaps visible and responsibilities clear. It does not mean that a school has been approved, surveyed or guaranteed a saving.
The School Connection framework brings ten checks together. It starts with demand and ends with a documented next step, because a roof alone cannot establish viability. Leaders can use the checklist to organise existing records and identify who should supply missing evidence. A school with incomplete information may have a worthwhile opportunity; it simply needs to develop the record first.
DfE's published guidance explicitly excludes poor-condition roofs from approval in the non-pilot route. [pilot] That makes condition a practical priority rather than a minor technical issue to resolve after the contract. A well-sequenced project can address the roof first and generation later, protecting both the building and the investment.
Demand and consumption pattern
The first check is the electricity baseline. Find the meter identifiers, annual consumption and recent bills. Establish whether interval data is available and who can obtain it. Keep the dates and units visible. A cost total without the electricity volume cannot show how much demand exists or how a changed tariff affected the bill.
The second check is the pattern of use. Record teaching hours, weekends, lettings, catering and holiday activity. Ask whether planned efficiency works or changes in occupancy will alter the future profile. The important relationship is between generation and usable demand, not a generic threshold taken from another school.
A positive initial record gives the assessor something real to work with. Missing data becomes an action rather than an excuse to guess. This is one reason the readiness process can be useful even where installation is not imminent: it improves the school's energy understanding and supports ordinary budget management.
Site potential and condition
The third check is physical potential. An initial review can identify roofs that might merit professional assessment, noting shading, orientation, access and known restrictions. Label aerial or approximate information as indicative. It is a way to focus further work, not a substitute for structural or technical review.
The fourth check is condition. Gather surveys, maintenance history, leak records and planned roof works. Establish the age and expected remaining life of relevant elements where evidence exists. If a survey is old or incomplete, identify the update required before design or commitment. The project needs a building that can support it through a realistic operating period.
The fifth check is existing equipment. Record installed PV, roof-mounted plant, relevant warranties and known electrical constraints. This helps avoid double counting generation or overlooking a conflict. Existing solar does not automatically rule out another project; it changes the questions that assessment needs to answer.
Control, works and responsible body
The sixth check is ownership and control. Identify who owns the site, who holds relevant rights and who can authorise a long-term arrangement. Do not assume that the headteacher's operational responsibility includes permission to grant roof rights. The appropriate responsible body needs to be part of the process from the beginning.
The seventh check is the wider works programme. Solar should be considered alongside refurbishment, expansion, roof renewal and other planned changes. DfE's long-term estate guidance supports that strategic approach. [estate] A timing conflict may be manageable if identified early; it becomes more disruptive when discovered after a design has been treated as final.
The eighth check is the route to consent and procurement. Ask the responsible body to confirm the process applicable to the institution and project. Keep official requirements separate from a supplier's description of what usually happens. The school's next step should be based on the route actually available, with any approval conditions understood.
Economics and institutional readiness
The ninth check is financial evidence. Use the school's tariff, a suitable generation assessment and realistic onsite use. Compare alternatives on consistent terms. Test price adjustment and downside scenarios. Our calculator illustrates those relationships, but a live proposal needs its own complete appraisal and documented assumptions.
The tenth check is governance capacity. Name the sponsor, project lead, decision-maker and reviewers. Establish the board question and the point at which commitment could be considered. Readiness is stronger when the school knows who will move the evidence forward, not simply when several documents have been uploaded somewhere.
Taken together, the checks produce an evidence pack with an action plan. The result may be ready for further assessment, evidence or works needed, or timing to review. None is a technical certificate. Each describes what the school should do next and helps prevent interest being confused with permission to install.
Roof first, panels second
Where condition work is needed, the positive opportunity is coordination. A roof project can be designed with later generation in mind, provided competent advice supports that approach. The school can avoid incompatible sequencing and understand the whole-life estate implications before agreeing to a long electricity arrangement.
The same principle applies to energy efficiency. Reducing unnecessary use can improve the budget immediately and give a more realistic basis for the solar design. A smaller, better-matched project may be more useful than an oversized array designed around consumption that the school intends to remove.
Leaders should therefore ask for the next evidence action, not an instant yes-or-no judgement from incomplete records. The framework gives that conversation structure. It helps a school remain positive about the opportunity while protecting the quality of the assessment.
Use the checklist and retain the decisions
Complete the interactive checklist with colleagues who hold the relevant information. Download the resulting evidence-and-action record for your own files. The checklist stays in the browser during the session; it is not automatically submitted to School Connection or shared with a partner.
If the school chooses to register interest, provide the separate contact details requested by the form. Registration does not establish pilot eligibility or technical readiness. It gives School Connection a route to discuss the school's interest and the next evidence needed, with any future introduction subject to a separate decision.
The aim is a better prepared school: informed about the policy, clear about its estate and able to examine a proposal on its own terms. That is how a promising funding route becomes a credible leadership opportunity.
Your evidence pack
Ten checks. One practical next step.
This records evidence completeness, not technical suitability or approval. Your answers stay in this browser session.
Put the feature to work
Your next leadership discussion
- Complete the ten evidence checks with finance and estates colleagues.
- Give every missing item an owner and a next action.
- Resolve roof timing and the responsible-body route before commitment.
Questions to resolve
- Which gap most affects our next decision?
- Are we ready for assessment, or merely interested?
Evidence you can follow
Sources and publication record
Development period: September–October 2026 · school preparation. . Evidence checked .
This is retrospective analysis of the stated development period. Later context is separated from original events. Recommendations are School Connection’s assessment. Case studies use published government accounts, not independently audited outcomes or new interviews. No supplier is endorsed.
- Department for Education · Published 16 July 2026; checked 9 October
Funding for installing solar photovoltaic panels on schools and colleges
Authoritative current guidance on selection, templates, approvals, roof condition and wider-access ambition.
- Department for Education · 25 February 2026; checked 9 October
Improve and renew your long-term estates plan
Strategic estate planning and renewable-generation context.
- Department for Education · Checked 9 October 2026
Energy efficiency guidance for the school and FE college estate
Consumption, interventions and onsite-generation guidance.
Source boundary: an announced event is not verified attendance; a passed deadline is not an award. No unpublished meeting minutes, market-response summary, final approved template or school-specific tariff forecast is represented as established evidence.