Solar Grants for UK Schools 2026 | After PSDS Closure

Status update — May 2026. PSDS Phase 4 closed to new applications in November 2024. Existing awards continue to deliver through 2027–28. For schools and academies that missed the window, the active routes are Salix interest-free loans (separate scheme, repaid from energy savings — effectively zero net cost), the Low Carbon Skills Fund for Heat Decarbonisation Plan funding (still active, useful to stay scoping-ready for any Phase 5), the Local Growth Fund where the trust’s estate is in an eligible Mayoral Authority area, and the Great British Energy Community Fund for community-benefit projects.

Why schools are the easiest commercial sector for 100% solar funding

The UK schools estate has been one of the largest single beneficiaries of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS). Phase 3b alone funded over 480 school decarbonisation projects, and Phase 4 has £530m allocated through 2028 with schools and FE colleges as a priority sector. For state-funded schools, academies, multi-academy trusts (MATs) and FE colleges, PSDS funds 100% of eligible solar capex when paired with heat decarbonisation measures — no debt, no capital contribution, no rate-payer call.

The catch — and the reason most schools that qualify have not yet applied — is that PSDS rewards integrated retrofit, not solar in isolation. Solar PV alone almost never wins a Phase 4 award. Solar paired with a heat pump retrofit, fabric upgrades and a Building Management System upgrade routinely wins 100% of the asked amount.

That changes the conversation. The starting question is not “can we afford solar?” but “do we have a credible Heat Decarbonisation Plan?”.

Who qualifies for PSDS in education

• State-funded primary, secondary and middle schools — yes
• Single-school academies and free schools — yes
• Multi-academy trusts — yes, and bids can be aggregated across schools
• Sixth-form colleges — yes, via the FE route
• Further education colleges — yes, prime route
• University estates — generally no (they have separate routes via the OfS / Research England Wave 2 fund)
• Independent schools — no (PSDS is public sector only). Independents look at IETF-equivalent routes or finance solutions.
• PFI-built schools — partial. PSDS will not typically fund measures on PFI assets where the PFI provider is responsible for energy. Workarounds exist via the PFI provider applying with the trust’s support.

What “integrated retrofit” actually means for schools

A successful PSDS application for a school normally bundles four to six measure types. The full menu:

• Solar PV — typically 80 to 350 kWp depending on roof and size of school
• Air-source or ground-source heat pumps — to displace gas boilers
• Fabric upgrades — cavity wall insulation, loft top-up, secondary glazing, draught-proofing
• Building Management System (BMS) upgrade — for occupancy-driven heating control
• LED lighting — almost always paired
• Pipework and emitter upgrades — needed to make heat pumps viable on existing radiator circuits

The carbon score that decides PSDS awards is calculated as tCO2e saved per £100k of grant. Solar alone typically scores 4.0 to 5.5 tCO2e/£100k — below the Phase 4 threshold of 6.5. Heat pump alone scores 8.0 to 12.0 tCO2e/£100k — above threshold but politically harder for schools because it usually requires major hydronic retrofit. Solar plus heat pump plus fabric scores 7.0 to 9.0 tCO2e/£100k — comfortably above threshold and politically easier because the package is incremental.

The Heat Decarbonisation Plan — the document that decides everything

A Heat Decarbonisation Plan (HDP) is a structured assessment of how a school estate will move off fossil heat over the next decade. It is not a marketing document; it is technical. A credible HDP includes:

• Stage 4 RIBA-equivalent surveys of every building in scope
• Hour-by-hour space heat and DHW demand modelling (we use IES VE)
• Temperature regime analysis for every emitter circuit
• Heat pump sizing, plant room space studies, electrical capacity assessment
• Phasing plan tied to a 10-year capex schedule
• Assumed energy prices, carbon prices and discount rates aligned to HM Treasury Green Book

Without an HDP, your PSDS bid will be marked “non-compliant” before it reaches scoring. With a strong HDP, your bid sits in the top quartile. The HDP is what gets you to 100% funded.

The Low Carbon Skills Fund (LCSF) — administered by Salix — funds the HDP itself. LCSF awards typically run £25,000 to £80,000 per estate. Schools that don’t yet have an HDP should be applying to the next LCSF window before applying to PSDS.

MAT-level bids vs single-school bids

For multi-academy trusts, the question is whether to submit one consolidated bid covering multiple schools or separate bids per school. Our experience: consolidated bids almost always win more, faster, with less effort.

A consolidated bid:

• Can range across schools at different decarbonisation stages — the carbon scoring averages across the bid
• Spreads the application overhead across multiple sites (lower cost per project)
• Demonstrates a strategic approach that scores better than fragmented single-school bids
• Allows easier prioritisation if Salix asks you to scale back the bid in clarification

The downside is technical complexity — you are doing five HDPs at once. We have run trust-wide bids for trusts of 4 to 14 schools.

What PSDS does not pay for

• Routine maintenance or asset replacement that would have happened anyway
• Energy measures where another grant has already paid (no double-funding)
• Battery storage that is not paired with electrification (heat pump or refrigeration)
• Hydrogen-ready boilers (PSDS Phase 4 has explicitly de-prioritised these)
• Solar canopies and EV charging that are not connected to an integrated decarbonisation outcome

If your bid is largely batteries and EV charging without a heat measure, it will not win Phase 4 funding.

The procurement constraint

PSDS-funded work must be procured through a public-sector compliant route. The default frameworks are:

• ESPO MSTAR3 — for installation works
• Crown Commercial Service RM6168 (Estate Management) — for consultancy
• NEPO 522 — for trusts in the North East
• YPO Frameworks — for Yorkshire and the Humber

These limit the installer pool but keep procurement clean. We run the procurement step on behalf of clients through MSTAR3 in most cases.

Typical timeline for a school PSDS bid

• Weeks 1–6: Heat Decarbonisation Plan (commission via LCSF if not already held)
• Weeks 6–8: Stage 4 surveys, electrical capacity assessment
• Weeks 8–10: Cost report, supplier pricing, financial model
• Weeks 10–12: PSDS application drafting and submission
• Weeks 12–18: Salix review and clarification questions
• Week 18: Award decision
• Months 5–18: Procurement and delivery
• Months 18–36: Monitoring & verification (M&V) obligation

The LCSF + PSDS path is roughly 9 months from kickoff to grant award. Faster trusts compress this to 7 months.

What we charge schools

For PSDS work specifically, we use a success-fee model — typically 3% of the awarded grant, capped at £40,000 per bid. Most MATs prefer this because it aligns incentives and avoids a capex hit before grant. The HDP itself is normally either LCSF-funded (in which case we work to LCSF rates) or fixed-fee (typically £6,500 per school).

How to start

The fastest route is the funding review form. Tell us how many schools and the year ranges of the buildings; we will come back within one working day with an outline route to a credible PSDS bid. Most school engagements start with a scoping call between the trust’s COO/CFO, the head of estates and our Head of Public Sector (Priya) — usually 45 minutes and free of charge.