A LIST is being drawn up of York primary schools which need rebuilding - in a bid to secure £28 million.

City of York Council expects by the summer to have compiled the list of primary schools from across the city most in need of work, as it tries to secure funding from the Government's Building Schools For The Future programme.

As reported in The Press last week, the Government aims to have about half the city's 54 primary schools rebuilt or improved.

York should receive £28 million over the life of the 15-year programme.

Some schools will require full replacement, while others need to achieve their objectives through smaller capital expenditure.

At a meeting of council education chiefs in the Guildhall, Maggie Tansley, head of planning and resources learning, culture and children's services, said condition surveys of building stock were being conducted.

Coun Viv Kind voiced concerns that some schools may be disadvantaged if they did not put forward a convincing case.

But Ms Tansley said council staff would be going out to all schools to explain the process.

Things which will be taken into consideration include available space, and it is proposed that all schools are given a score based on a list of elements that reflect their needs, their pupils and the community.

Every school currently has a baseline score that is used by the council when allocating funding for various projects.

This system, which is based on three surveys; "condition", "suitability" and "sufficiency", will be used in applications under the Building Schools For The Future programme.

The "condition" survey is carried out by a professional building surveyor and covers all aspects of the physical state of the school.

The remaining two are completed by the schools and agreed with the local authority.

"Suitability" is about the barriers to raising standards imposed by the building and "sufficiency" measures the number of pupil places available.

Weightings are used to push up the scores of popular schools, where pupil numbers exceed the building capacity.

It is suggested the baseline be used as the main criterion for prioritising schools, but that all of the surveys on which it is based are fully updated before the first list is produced.

There are currently three federation schools in York - Clifton with Rawcliffe, Derwent Infants and Juniors, and English Martyr's and Our Lady's RC, in Acomb - each consisting of two schools under one head teacher.

Those that are planning to amalgamate will be awarded a higher score.

Ms Tansley said a list should be available in time for the council's executive member and advisory panel meeting in the summer.