Two requirements, one set of numbers
Schools meet carbon reporting in two ways.
The climate action plan. DfE's sustainability and climate change strategy said that by 2025 every education setting would have a sustainability lead and a climate action plan. To keep that going, DfE's estate management standards now include both. There's no set template, but every plan should cover four pillars, one of which is decarbonisation and net zero: "actions to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions". It covers nurseries, schools, multi-academy trusts, colleges and universities, and a plan can sit at school level, trust level or both.
SECR for large trusts. Academy trusts are charitable companies, and DfE has confirmed with DESNZ that they're in scope of Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting. A trust meeting two of 250 employees, £36 million gross income or an £18 million balance sheet, and using more than 40,000 kWh a year, must put its energy and emissions in the trustees' report. Our education sector page covers colleges, independent schools and training providers.
What a trust's SECR disclosure contains
- UK energy use in kWh from gas, electricity and transport fuel the trust buys, including minibuses and staff mileage claims;
- the emissions from that energy, in tonnes of CO2e, using the government conversion factors;
- an intensity ratio. DfE encourages tonnes of CO2e per pupil, using autumn census numbers, so trusts can be compared;
- the method used, and a narrative of the energy efficiency measures taken in the year (or a statement that there were none);
- last year's figures alongside.
DfE says it doesn't expect trusts to need specialist consultants for this, and encourages large trusts to publish the disclosure on their website before 31 March each year. Where a building is run under a PFI contract, the party responsible for the energy use reports it.
A worked example: a three-school trust
A trust with three schools and 1,400 pupils adds up its academic year, using the 2026 factors as DfE advises for 2025 to 2026:
| Source | Quantity | Factor | tCO2e |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas for heating and hot water (Scope 1) | 620,000 kWh | 0.18231 | 113.03 |
| Electricity (Scope 2) | 240,000 kWh | 0.13096 | 31.43 |
| Diesel for two minibuses (Scope 1) | 2,200 litres | 2.58354 | 5.68 |
| Total | 150.15 | ||
The intensity ratio is 150.15 ÷ 1,400 pupils = 0.107 tCO2e per pupil, or about 107 kg. Heating is 75% of the total, and gas is also the largest line in DfE's own worked example, so it's the place to start. Cutting heating gas by 15% through better controls and timings that follow the timetable would avoid about 16.95 tonnes of CO2e a year.
Where the data is
- Gas and electricity: supplier invoices or annual statements for every school and meter. Half-hourly data, if you have it, shows energy used out of hours and in the holidays.
- Minibus fuel: fuel cards or receipts in litres, or mileage if that's all you have.
- Staff mileage: expense claims, for business journeys in staff cars.
- Gaps: DfE says trusts may estimate missing data from a comparable period or by pro-rata, as long as the method is explained.
Record data school by school rather than as one trust total. Each school's climate action plan needs its own figures, and the trust-level SECR disclosure is simply the sum. For the wider choice of ratio, see our post on intensity ratios.
Beyond the minimum
SECR only asks for energy and transport fuel. A climate action plan can go further, with waste, water, staff commuting and pupils' journeys to school. Keep those as separate lines from the SECR figures, so the statutory numbers stay comparable year to year. Independent schools that are charities should also read our post on carbon reporting for charities, which covers the new Charities SORP rules.
How Carbon Recycling helps
Add each school as a site, set your reporting year to start in September, and import a year of bills and fuel from a spreadsheet. Carbon Recycling produces the SECR disclosure for the trustees' report, with last year's comparison and the method, and a site report for each school's climate action plan. Its built-in intensity ratios are per £m of income, per employee or per square metre of floor area; for DfE's per-pupil ratio, divide the total by your census figure as shown above. Check whether your trust is in scope with the free SECR checker.