Schools hit by falling pupil rolls could avoid selling unused land by leasing it to film crews, officials have suggested.

Unused parts of school sites could also be used for “pop-up offices”, corporate meeting spaces and commercial nursery and childcare provision, according to proposals set out in a document seen by Tes.

The document is produced by LocatED, the Department for Education’s property company, which last week issued a public warning against selling off school land.

Concerns about what to do with vacant school spaces have arisen due to a fall in the birth rate causing the intake of many primary schools to drop.

But the document, seen by Tes, says “it would be unwise for this space to be permanently lost from the education system” due to the “pressure on land supply” and “the difficulty and cost of finding suitable sites”.

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However, vacant and unused accommodation “is potentially a significant cost burden on budgets, given the need to retain buildings in a secure and safe condition even when not in use”, it warns.

The document sets out LocatED’s proposed solutions, stating that the organisation has “extensive experience” in “creative and entrepreneurial” projects - such as arranging “pop-up offices, film and TV locations, guardianship arrangements and various community or social short-term uses”.

This experience could help to expand “commercial” leases of school sites, including to filming crews “out of school term”, requiring “appropriate minor capital works to ensure safeguarding”, it suggests.

The document, referenced in LocatED’s annual reports published last December, has been released via a freedom of information request that was initially rejected on the grounds that it could inhibit government policymaking.

‘Bizarre policy proposal’

James Bowen, assistant general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, called the paper’s suggestion of leasing land for filming “one of the most bizarre policy proposals we’ve seen this year”.

“Leasing land to film crews is unlikely to be a realistic option for 99 per cent of schools and we would seriously hope the government is not seriously suggesting this is a policy solution,” he said.

While guidance on leasing out sites in this way may be useful for “a few schools”, it “must not be presented as something schools ought to be doing to make up funding shortfalls,” Mr Bowen said, adding that not many schools have “so-called ‘surplus’ land”.

He said: “It’s a depressing reflection of the current state of affairs when it comes to school funding if schools are being encouraged to choose between selling off and leasing land to help deliver the education children deserve.”

Vacant school buildings

The DfE declined to comment on LocatED’s proposals but is understood to have signed off on vacant properties being used for filming in the past.

Tes previously revealed how the DfE had discussed using space in schools affected by falling rolls to temporarily house special school pupils, in plans criticised as a “sticking plaster”.

Under the plans set out by LocatED, the organisation would “identify a hierarchy of alternative uses which put education provision, including special educational needs and alternative provision (given the need at the moment), ahead of other community/social uses or commercial use”.

£100k for school used in movie

For those schools with suitable spaces, filming can be a welcome source of revenue. This term, one of multi-academy trust E-ACT’s schools, Blackley Academy in Manchester, has welcomed a production company during times when pupils were not in school to film a new advert for Soreen snack bars.

A spokesperson said the trust was keen to showcase its schools “and to explore alternative income generation, and wider benefits, through innovative partnerships with local businesses”.

And Swinton Academy, a secondary in Rotherham, raised £100,000 by allowing it to be used in the 2021 movie Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, featuring Richard E Grant, Sarah Lancashire and Sharon Horgan.

Executive principal Rebecca Hibberd said the filming took place in the summer holidays, and the money helped with staffing costs and updating IT resources, although it also went towards fixing pipes damaged by one of the crew’s lorries.

The filming “called on the school’s site team a lot”, she said.

Revamped classrooms

On the plus side, the production company also donated light-up tables - which characters had danced on in the film - and revamped some classrooms. “They were very generous, giving us new blinds and lights - we really benefited from that,” said Ms Hibberd.

Some students successfully auditioned for roles in the film, too - as a dancer and extras - and a “red carpet movie” night was held for students to watch it, complete with sweets and popcorn.

Themes in the film, which is about a teenage boy who overcomes prejudice to become a drag queen, were used to inform PSHE lessons, she said.

Ms Hibberd emphasised that the school is in bad need of renovation and has been named in the government’s long-term School Rebuilding Programme.