Colophon.
The colophon of a printed handbook records the typeface, the press, the imprint, and the editions. The digital equivalent for this handbook records the editions it has been through, the primary documents it draws on, and the editorial guardrails the author works under. It is the page a bursar reads to decide how far to trust each claim, alongside the inline citations on every numeric line and the edition changelog.
Compiled by Oliver Wakefield-Smith, founder, Digital Signet. Reviewed against ESFA Information for Applicants 2026-27 and the Condition Funding Methodology March 2026 revision.
Edition history
The handbook is published as a numbered edition, not a continuously rolling page. Each edition aligns with a CIF cycle event and a recorded refresh. Numbers in earlier editions are not retroactively edited; they are superseded by a later edition and the prior wording is preserved in the edition changelog.
- Edition 1 (first edition) - 22 May 2026. Round 13 outcomes day. Compiled by Oliver Wakefield-Smith, founder, Digital Signet.
- Edition 1.1 (this edition) - 22 June 2026. Inline-citation pass: headline KPIs and FAQ numerics anchored to specific gov.uk URLs with verified dates. Methodology page reissued as a colophon.
- Edition 2 (forthcoming) - October 2026, on the 2027-28 round opening, when ESFA reissues the Information for Applicants.
Source register
Every primary document this handbook draws on, the gov.uk URL it lives at, what part of the handbook it supports, and the date the URL was last verified. Inline citations elsewhere on the site point back to entries in this register.
| Document | Publisher | Used for | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condition Improvement Fund: information for applicants 2026-27 | ESFA | Eligibility, project-type definitions, timetable, evidence list | 22 Jun 2026 |
| Condition Funding Methodology 2026-27 (March 2026 revision) | ESFA | 60/25/15 weighting, RAAC prioritisation, scoring rubric | 22 Jun 2026 |
| Condition Improvement Fund outcomes 2026-27 (Round 13) | ESFA | £456 M awarded, 871 projects funded, ~25% success rate, mean ~£520k / median £200-250k | 22 May 2026 |
| Academy trusts: borrowing guidance (academy loans) | DfE | CIF loan terms, repayment, early-settlement position | 22 Jun 2026 |
| Academy partial-exemption guidance (March 2026 update) | Bishop Fleming | VAT partial-exemption treatment for MATs in §04.05 | 22 Jun 2026 |
| Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) estates guidance | DfE | RAAC remediation prioritisation within building-safety | 22 Jun 2026 |
| Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme | DESNZ | PSDS / CIF boundary for PV and decarbonisation works | 22 Jun 2026 |
Editorial guardrails
The author operates under a single rule: paraphrase the primary document and cite the paragraph; do not invent. That rule resolves into four concrete guardrails for this handbook.
- Paraphrase, never extend. Where ESFA has not stated a number (for example, a formal grant ceiling), the handbook records the absence rather than imputing one from prior rounds.
- Quote-only stays quote-only. Vendor or contractor figures that the vendor does not publish are recorded as ‘quote-only’ rather than inferred from a sample of jobs.
- Author scope is bounded. The author is not an ESFA employee, a DfE employee, a CIF assessor, or a CIF bid-writing consultant. The handbook does not estimate individual assessor scores, does not confirm trust-specific eligibility, and does not predict bid outcomes.
- Errata are versioned, not silently edited. Where a number is corrected, the prior wording is preserved in the edition changelog alongside the corrected wording.
Refresh trigger
The handbook is refreshed on the cycle, not on a fixed calendar interval. The triggering events are: round open (October), round close (mid-December), outcomes publication (May), and any inter-cycle methodology revision published by ESFA. Each refresh is recorded as a dated entry in the changelog.