Which UK Universities Have Invested The Most In Building Maintenance?

This study was conducted by SFG20, the industry standard for building maintenance, to support excellence in facilities management for universities, colleges and multi-academy trusts.

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Introduction 

Over the past few years, the state of university, college, and school buildings and facilities in the UK has come under increased scrutiny, particularly in light of the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) crisis.

The widespread presence of this hazardous building material across older university and school estates has spotlighted the need for estate managers to prioritise repair and remediation works.

The National Audit Office has released new figures, revealing the estimated maintenance backlog for the Department for Education was in excess of £13.8bn.*

With the rising costs of construction and many universities tightening their budgets, difficult decisions have been made about where to allocate resources. 

SFG20’s duty, as the industry standard for building maintenance, is to ensure that those interacting with the UK’s university facilities, both students and staff, feel safe inside these buildings and to ensure the appropriate guidance is provided to experts in the facilities management and built industry to maintain these buildings to a safe and legal standard.

Methodology

To investigate the state of building maintenance across UK universities, SFG20 submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to 105 universities, who were asked to provide information on:

• Total costs spent on repair and remediation works in the most recent financial year
• Completed repair projects in 2023
• The current number of outstanding requests across all university buildings
• Total budgets for repair and remediation in 2024
  
  

From 61 responses, universities were ranked based on their answers to each FOI question in comparison to other universities and assigned a score out of 100. The higher the score, the more the institution invested both time and money into the maintenance and upkeep of their buildings.

The need for building repair and remediation can be driven by a number of factors, which is why our overall ranking has been derived from several balanced metrics to show how universities compare to one another. 

Key findings 

• The university that has invested the most time and money into building repair and remediation is the University of Oxford, with an overall score of 75.41. 
• The University of York (74.04) ranked second place, followed by the University of Durham (71.31), the University of the West of England (66.94) and City St George’s, University of London (63.93). 
• The University of Cambridge reported the highest expenditure on repair and remediation works in the last financial year with £58.2 million spent, 10 times the average spend.
• Our top-ranking universities include a wide range of older, larger universities and smaller, newer institutions. The results do not follow a strict trend of older, larger institutions having invested more in maintenance. 
• 904,000 maintenance projects were logged in 2023 across the 61 universities that responded to the FOI request. If extrapolated to all university estates, it is possible that this number could rise to over 1.5 million.
• As of January 2025, there were approximately 76,527 outstanding maintenance requests across the 61 universities. 
  
  

Where does your university rank? 

Platinum Tier: Universities That Invested The Most In Building Repair And Remediation

The University of Oxford ranked in the top position among the universities that invested the most into repair and remediation works across its facilities and buildings, with an overall score of 75.41.

As part of their overall ranking, the University of Oxford had one of the highest repair project completion rates of the institutions that responded, with almost 40,000 completed.

In comparison, Liverpool John Moores University, in our silver tier, is home to a similar number of students, but completed 5x fewer maintenance projects in 2023.  

In the most recent financial year, the University of Oxford spent a total of £18,500,000 on building maintenance projects. With a budget of £26.4 million, they were also the university that came most under budget, reflecting their cost-efficient allocation of resources. 

The University of Oxford was closely followed by the University of York, which spent a total of £12.8 million on repair and maintenance works in the most recent financial year, approximately £3 million under budget. 

The University of Durham (71.31), the University of the West of England (66.94), and the University of Bradford (64.21) also ranked in the top five institutions for building maintenance budget management, efficiency, and responsiveness, when compared to the figures provided by other universities.

Gold Tier: Further Leading UK Universities For Investment In Building Upkeep And Maintenance

The results revealed that City St George’s, University of London (69.93), the University of East Anglia (63.39), and Leeds Beckett University (62.84) all make significant efforts to upkeep and maintain their buildings and facilities. 

Of all the London-based universities who responded to our FOI request, St George’s, University of London, which merged with City, University of London in August 2024, received the highest overall score.

They spotlighted their low number of outstanding maintenance requests across their university buildings, at only 90, and with a total budget for repair and remediation works in 2024 of £4.8 million, they remained £1.3 million under budget.

Ranking just behind was the University of East Anglia, with an overall score of 63.39. The Norwich-based institution had one of the lowest spend per maintenance request of all the universities who responded (£70 per request), a factor that played into their overall ranking. 

The Universities of St. Andrews, Dundee, and Edinburgh were all some of the first UK universities to discover RAAC in some of their buildings. They have, since, had to invest significant time and money into prioritising the removal of RAAC and the maintenance of their student buildings.

Paul Bullard, Product Director at SFG20, says: 

“Staying significantly under budget on maintenance costs and keeping a low cost per repair request are both strong indicators of a well-structured, proactive maintenance strategy - one that prioritises efficiency and minimises more serious and costly unexpected downtime.”

Silver Tier: Universities With A Great Standard Of Building Maintenance 

Our silver tier of institutions features ten universities that are still demonstrating a great commitment to maintaining their buildings and facilities, all scoring between 50 and 60. This tier sees a mixture of both English and Scottish universities.

The University of Bath (57.10), Manchester Metropolitan University (56.01), and Cranfield University (56.01) all rank highly for the number of repair and remediation requests that were responded to and completed in 2023, each with a total above 25,000.

Liverpool John Moores University (55.74) ended 2024 half a million pounds under its forecasted maintenance budget, reflecting its cost-efficient and proactive approach to building repair and remediation.

Similarly, Coventry University (55.74), boasted one of the lowest spends per maintenance request at £44. Both of these factors contributed, among other metrics, to the overall ranking of the two institutions. 

Bronze Tier: Universities Maintaining A Good Standard Of Building Upkeep 

Universities such as the London School of Economics (53.28), Arts University Bournemouth (53.01), and The Open University (52.73) fall into the bronze tier category, meaning they have a good standard of building maintenance. 

In fact, Arts University Bournemouth boasted the lowest spend per maintenance request of all the universities that responded to the FOI request at just £23 per request. 

The London School of Economics and Edinburgh Napier University, both finished the most recent financial year exactly on budget for repair and remediation works to their buildings, having spent £3.02 million and £1.11 million respectively. 

Paul Bullard, Product Director at SFG20, on the issue of building maintenance in UK Universities, has said: 

“To attract and retain the best calibre of staff and students, universities must provide outstanding learning environments, supported by high-quality leisure facilities and living conditions. Even before Covid, we saw a shift towards improving indoor air quality to enhance student focus and well-being. Now, more than ever, delivering a great experience is critical. Well-maintained facilities not only create inspiring spaces for learning but also play a vital role in university recruitment and retention. SFG20 remains committed to supporting universities in upholding the highest standards in their buildings, equipping estate managers and building professionals with the knowledge and solutions needed to safeguard the future of these essential spaces.

Conclusion 

This campaign has spotlighted some of the UK universities most invested in proactively and cost-efficiently maintaining their buildings.

With educational institutions facing increased public scrutiny due to nationwide building safety issues, ensuring a robust maintenance strategy has become a priority for estate managers across the UK. 

notes 

*https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maintaining-public-service-facilities.pdf

About SFG20 

Launched in 1990 by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA), SFG20 is recognised as the industry standard for building maintenance specifications. With access to a library of over 1,500 maintenance schedules that update dynamically to reflect changes in legislation regulations, you can create customised maintenance schedules that are designed to keep you compliant while also saving you time, effort and money.