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A sustainability lead and a plan with four pillars: what schools are now expected to have

Qurexa Editorial Team4 November 20267 min read 0 0
A sustainability lead and a plan with four pillars: what schools are now expected to have

What happened

On 3 November 2026, the Department for Education (DfE) updated its guidance on sustainability leadership and climate action plans in education. The update added several things: links to design guidance and estates management standards for further education, a contact form for sustainability support, updated case studies, and a sign-up form for a newsletter called the Sustainability Snapshot. The underlying expectation is not new, but it is worth restating because many parents will not know it exists. DfE's sustainability and climate change strategy for education says: "By 2025, all education settings will have nominated a sustainability lead and put in place a climate action plan." That covers non-domestic early years settings, schools, multi-academy trusts, colleges and universities. DfE says that to keep momentum going beyond 2025, its Estate management standards now include the requirement for a sustainability lead and a climate action plan. The guidance itself is described as non-statutory, meaning it is not a legal duty on settings in the way some other rules are. DfE does not provide a set template for climate action plans, saying this lets settings tailor plans to their own context. But it says all plans should include four key pillars: adaptation and resilience; biodiversity and nature; climate education and green skills; and decarbonisation and net zero. The guidance applies to England.

Why this matters

It is easy to read "climate action plan" and picture a poster about recycling. The actual list of what DfE expects these plans to deliver is far more practical than that. DfE says having clear sustainability leadership and a plan helps a setting improve energy and water efficiency, calculate and reduce its carbon emissions, reduce operating costs, increase resilience and adapt to climate impacts, enhance biodiversity, and bring together related plans such as school travel and waste management. Read that list again with a school budget in mind. "Improve energy efficiency" and "reduce operating costs" are the same sentence in a different accent. A school that cuts its heating and lighting bills has more money for teaching. The "adaptation and resilience" pillar matters for a reason that has become uncomfortably concrete. Schools in England have closed because of flooding and have struggled to function in extreme heat, in buildings never designed for it. Planning for that is not idealism, it is estate management. There is also a learning dimension that is easy to overlook. DfE says involving children and young people can "give young people a sense of agency where anxiety stems from climate concerns". That is a genuinely thoughtful point. Climate anxiety among young people is real and widely documented, and the difference between feeling helpless and feeling able to do something often comes down to whether anyone gives you something concrete to do. And the "green skills" pillar connects to jobs. The careers in heat pumps, retrofit, grid work and environmental management are growing, and schools are where those paths start.

What the evidence actually says

Being precise here matters, because the gap between an expectation and a requirement is where most of the real story sits. The strategy target was that all education settings would have a sustainability lead and a climate action plan by 2025. That date has passed. DfE's guidance does not claim universal compliance, and its own language, "wherever you are on your sustainability journey", strongly suggests a mixed picture. The guidance is explicitly non-statutory. The firmer hook is that DfE's Estate management standards now include the requirement, which gives it more weight for settings whose estates are assessed against those standards. DfE is also candid that some of the material needs work. One section notes that "some content may now be slightly out of date, but it remains broadly relevant". That is an unusually honest line for government guidance, and it tells you something about how much of this is still being built. On whether climate action plans actually achieve anything, DfE's stated basis is observational rather than experimental: "We have seen that settings and trusts have the greatest success in driving change where there is a holistic action plan that is supported by a leadership team with the authority, knowledge, and commitment to take it forward." That is a reasonable claim, and it is also a claim about leadership as much as about plans. A plan without a senior leader behind it is paperwork. DfE effectively says so, noting that best practice shows impact is greater when the sustainability lead is supported by a wider team including both teaching and operational staff, such as estates management and catering. So the fair summary: a sensible framework, a target date that has slipped, no legal compulsion, and results that depend heavily on whether a school's leadership actually wants it to happen.

Practical advice

If you are a parent or carer, you can ask three simple questions at a parents' evening or governors' meeting. Who is our sustainability lead? Do we have a climate action plan? Can I see it? That last one is reasonable. DfE notes that many settings publish their plan on their website, and says visibility "is helpful in engaging parents, the local community and external stakeholders" and "enhances trust and accountability". If your school has not published theirs, asking politely is a nudge in the right direction. If you work in a school, nursery or college, the support DfE points to is free and worth using rather than starting from scratch. Sustainability Support for Education provides resources, services and tools for developing or building on a plan. The Climate Ambassador programme gives access to volunteer climate ambassadors and regional networks, working with Climate Action Advisors from Let's Go Zero. The National Education Nature Park offers curriculum-linked resources and practical activities that connect children with nature and count towards the biodiversity side of a plan. For further and higher education, the EAUC has published a standardised carbon emissions framework, developed with the Association of Colleges, Colleges Scotland, Universities UK and others, which saves institutions inventing their own methodology. If you already have a plan, DfE is clear it is not asking you to write a new one. Check it against the four pillars and fill any gaps. And involve the students. DfE's own guidance makes the case that learners in sustainability leadership roles identify more opportunities and build more momentum than staff working alone.

What to know

DfE updated its sustainability leadership and climate action plans guidance on 3 November 2026, adding further education design guidance and estates management standards, a support contact form, updated case studies and a newsletter sign-up. The expectation is that all education settings in England nominate a sustainability lead and have a climate action plan. The target date was 2025, and DfE's Estate management standards now include the requirement. The guidance is non-statutory, and DfE provides no set template. All plans should cover four pillars: adaptation and resilience; biodiversity and nature; climate education and green skills; and decarbonisation and net zero. The practical benefits DfE lists include lower energy and water use, reduced operating costs, better resilience to flooding and heat, and green skills for learners. Parents can ask who the sustainability lead is and whether the plan is published. Staff can use free support through Sustainability Support for Education, the Climate Ambassador programme and the National Education Nature Park. Sources: Department for Education, "Sustainability leadership and climate action plans in education", published 18 May 2023, last updated 3 November 2026, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sustainability-leadership-and-climate-action-plans-in-education; Department for Education, "Sustainability and climate change: a strategy for the education and children's services systems", accessed 4 November 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainability-and-climate-change-a-strategy-for-the-education-and-childrens-services-systems; National Education Nature Park, accessed 4 November 2026, https://www.educationnaturepark.org.uk/ This article is for general information and is not legal, financial or medical advice. For questions about your own health or medicines, speak to a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.

#schools#sustainability#climate action plan#Department for Education#green skills#colleges

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