Submit a school land transaction proposal
Find out when you'll need to involve the Secretary of State for Education and which forms you'll need to submit.
Applies to England
What you’ll need to do
This section explains which parts of the guidance you’ll need to read and how to make an application or notify the Secretary of State.
For some land transactions, you’ll need to obtain the Secretary of State’s prior consent or give notice to the Secretary of State. In other cases, a General Consent Order (GCO) may apply to the proposed land transaction.
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Use part 1 to find out whether you need to involve the Secretary of State.
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Use part 2 to find out about the assessment criteria used for different types of land transactions and the specific information and evidence required to be provided with your application.
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Use part 3 to find out about playing field land, including what is classified as playing field land, how to provide your playing field statistics and information about the role of the playing field panel.
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Use part 4 to read about which land transactions are covered by the General Consent Orders (GCOs).
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Use part 5 to find out how to submit your application for consent or notify the Secretary of State.
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Use part 6 to read about academy conversions, statutory transfers for voluntary and foundation schools, transfers of land from one academy trust to another academy trust and orders made under section 554 of the Education Act 1996 - see the guidance on section 554 orders.
Apply for school land transactions
Use the following forms to make your land transaction application.
- Form A - Disposals of non-playing field land
- Form B - Disposals of or including playing field land
- Form J - Acquisitions
Nurseries
Following the department’s announcement about funding for schools to create nurseries in existing primary school premises and updates to guidance on establishing school-based nursery provision, a consent process for land transactions relating to nurseries and childcare is now available.
There is a General Consent Order (GCO) and notification form applicable to:
- local authorities
- governing bodies of maintained schools and foundation bodies
- the trustees of a foundation, voluntary, or foundation special schools for specific nursery related land transactions
There is also a short application form for nursery and childcare related land transactions where the GCO does not apply.
General Consent Orders (GCO)
The Secretary of State has agreed that some types of disposal fall within the type where they would routinely expect to grant consent. Accordingly, they have agreed General Consent Orders (GCOs) that provide a blanket consent in these cases.
Contact
Email [email protected] if you have any questions about:
- land transactions
- the main guidance
- the forms
- GCOs
Decisions on the disposal of school land
A summary of decisions about the disposal of school land since May 2010 is available.
Feedback
You can take a 2-minute survey and provide the Department for Education (DfE) with feedback on the guidance and application forms. DfE will consider your feedback when making decisions about future updates to the guidance and application forms.
Updates to this page
Published 10 February 2021Last updated 2 December 2024 + show all updates
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Added a new section on 'Nurseries'. Also added 3 new documents: ‘The School Land General Disposal and Change of Use (Childcare) Class Consent 2024', ‘General Consent Order (GCO): School Based Nursery - notification form’ and ‘Form N – Disposals of school land for a school-based nursery provision’.
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Updated the page to remove out of date content. Also updated the 'School land transactions: guidance' to confirm that Forms A, B and J should now be completed through the Land transaction portal. Added the link to the Land transaction portal.
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The 'General Consent Order (GCO): The School Playing Fields General Disposal and Change of Use Class Consent', 'General Consent Order (GCO): The Academies General Disposal and Appropriation Class Consent', 'General Consent Order (GCO): Schedule 1 Academies Act 2010 - notification form' and 'General Consent Order (GCO) Section 77 School Standards and Frameworks Act 1998 - notification form' have been updated for 2023.
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Added 'The School Playing Fields General Disposal and Change of Use Class Consent (No 6) 2022' and 'The Academies General Disposal and Appropriation Class Consent (No 3) 2022' which replace the 'School Playing Fields General Disposal and Change of Use Consent (No 5) 2014’ and the ‘Academies General Disposal and Appropriation Consent (No 2) 2012' respectively. Also updated 2 more forms under ‘General Consent Orders’: ‘Section 77 School Standards and Frameworks Act 1998 – notification form’ and ‘Schedule 1 Academies Act 2010 – notification form’.
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Added 'Decisions on the disposal of school land'.
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Updated the 'School land transactions: guidance' and forms A to L.
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First published.