School buildings have, over the last 20 years or more, been badly neglected. It has been easy to divert scarce resources to other priorities – leaking roofs, planned repainting and refurbishment, new buildings and so on – as these can always be postponed for another year or two. Eventually, as now, however, these matters can no longer be deferred. The question is, will the opportunity created by the massive, multi-billion pounds building programme over the next few years be used to redesign schools for the future? If lifelong learning means access to learning opportunities for everyone, anytime, anywhere, does this not entail a radical reappraisal of the school and the way it is designed? Or will, as so often in the past, architects design schools in line with their own sad stereotypes of what a school should look like, with little reference to those who use schools?

The outlook is brighter than it has been. At all levels, including officials in the DfES, there are people who are determined not to let this unique opportunity slip away. David Miliband, the minister for school standards, has established a ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme by which 12 exemplar designs, six primary and six secondary, are being commissioned. The problem is that there remains uncertainty and disagreement about what exactly schools of the 21st century are for. As in the case of churches, there is widespread agreement that traditional designs have shortcomings, but also confusion over fresh designs that might set things right. Few would disagree that school designs ought to be adapted to fit the concept of lifelong learning, and thus of more efficient usage by more people, since too many schools are underused in the evenings, at weekends and during holidays. Yet this acknowledgement provides neither much practical guidance on the kinds of change that should be made, nor any guarantee that a very different kind of building will ensure better usage.