Get ready for the School Estate Management Standards Annual Return

How ready is your school or organisation?

The first SEMS Annual Return is putting a new focus on how schools and responsible bodies manage their estates, from statutory compliance and condition information to contractor checks and estate records. The submission window opens in the third week of September 2026, with the final deadline due in late November 2026.

Whether you are preparing information for your school or coordinating the return across a trust, local authority or diocese, NASPM can help you understand what you need, identify any gaps and decide what to tackle first.

Start with our free 5-minute SEMS Readiness Check

Answer five simple questions and you will receive:

Your SEMS readiness result
The area we recommend you prioritise first
Practical guidance on what to do next
Your free NASPM SEMS guide

Take the 5-minute Readiness Check below:

How ready are you for the SEMS Annual Return?

Answer five quick questions about your estate information and processes. It should take around five minutes.

At the end, we'll show you how prepared you appear to be and the area we recommend tackling first.

If you were asked today, could you show that your site is meeting its key statutory health and safety requirements, with current records to support it?This could include asbestos, legionella, gas and fire safety, statutory inspections and risk assessments.Yes, our systems and records are current, complete and easy to accessMostly, although evidence is held in several placesPartly, we have some known gaps or out-of-date recordsNo, it would take significant work to assemble the evidenceI am not sure

How much of the core information about your site or estate could your school locate this week?This includes your asset register, asbestos records where relevant, building plans, energy consumption, energy costs, estate running costs, tenure or ownership information, statutory compliance records and sufficiency data.All or almost all of itMost of itAround half of itVery little of itI am not sure what information we hold

Do you have current local condition survey information for the site or sites you are responsible for, and is it being used to plan estate work?By local condition survey, we mean one commissioned by your organisation rather than the national Condition Data Collection programme.Yes, surveys are within five years and the information is actively used to plan workYes, surveys are within five years, although we do not use the information consistentlyOnly some of our site or sites have current survey informationOur survey information is more than five years old or we do not have itI am not sure

Before appointing a contractor, how consistently does your school carry out and record its due diligence checks?This can include checking that contractors are competent, appropriately insured, financially stable, suitably qualified and able to carry out the work safely.For every contractor, with the checks recordedFor most contractors, although records are inconsistentSome checks are carried out, but there is no consistent processWe do not have a formal due diligence processI am not sure

Is it clear who is coordinating your school's SEMS annual return and what information your site or team needs to provide?Yes, the coordinator is clear and responsibilities and next steps have been agreedWe know who is coordinating it, but have not yet worked through what is neededWe know who the responsible body is, but not who is coordinating the returnNo arrangements have been discussed yetI am not sure who is responsible for submitting our return

Q1 Compliance Score

Q2 Records Score

Q3 Condition Score

Q4 Contractors Score

Q5 Coordination Score

Total SEMS Score

Almost there. Where should we send your results?

Enter your details below and we'll show your readiness result and email you the SEMS guide, including the practical next steps to take.

First Name *

Last Name *

Work Email Address *

School or organisation *

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Who is responsible for submitting your school's SEMS annual return? *Select from below

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