Net capacity assessment programme for primary schools

Overview

From September 2025, the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) NCA programme will ensure that accurate and up-to-date information on pupil capacity is available for government-funded primary schools in England.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOAVO) will visit primary schools to collect data on pupil capacity.

VOAVO will:

• measure rooms
• record room types
• use the NCA tool and methodology to calculate the number of pupils a school can accommodate, based on the size and use of the spaces available

NCA reports will be shared with:

• schools
• local authorities
• dioceses
• multi-academy trusts

Benefits

The benefits of the NCA programme include:

• identification of spare capacity where demand for places is high
• more effective use of space and curriculum planning
• independent verification of capacity for admissions and appeals
• accurate information to help respond to new policies and developments, such as breakfast clubs and additional childcare places

Guidance

Further guidance can be found in the NCA programme guide (PDF, 358369 KB, 12 pages) and How to read your NCA report (mainstream schools) (PDF, 234 KB, 3 pages).

Scheduled school site visits

The Valuation Office Agency (VOAVO) willare visitvisiting primary schools in England between September 2025 and March 2029.2029. Use Wethe have Tranche publishedlist: primary schools (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 1.72 MB) to find the approximate dates for visits. This shows:

• the quarterly tranche dates between 2025 and 2029
• a master list of schoolsevery toprimary beschool, indicating the proposed tranche or year for the scheduled visit
• schools visited in the first two2 tranches betweenbefore SeptemberApril 20252026
• schools to be visited in each quarterly tranche for the coming year between April and March
• schools 2026.to Webe willvisited publishin asubsequent fullyears

The tranchelists listcan beforebe Aprilfiltered 2026.by Followinglocal thisauthority, weacademy trust and diocese. We will publishreview anthe upschedules toin dateOctober listand ofMarch schoolseach byyear trancheand oncepublish aany year.changes.

FindThe outexact thedate dates of schooleach siteschool’s visitsvisit usingwithin thea quarterly tranche list (MSwill Excelbe Spreadsheet,agreed 73.5by KB).VO and the school.

NCA tool and area guidelines

DfE has also published:

• the tool used to carry out NCA
• guidelines on the area of school buildings and grounds, and the number of pupil places availableavailable, are set out in the design guidance building bulletins

NCA programme for secondary schools and special schools

The primary school programme follows the successful 2023 to 2025 programme that ensured that accurate, up-to-date information on pupil capacity is available for government-funded mainstream secondary schools and special schools.

Guidance on how to read your NCA report for the secondary and special school phase is available for:

• mainstream schools (PDF, 219 KB, 3 pages)
• special schools (PDF, 218 KB, 3 pages)