School Net Capacity
Every school must have its capacity established and its Planned Admission Number set in accordance with the Net Capacity calculation method, using the spreadsheet issued by the DCSF
The starting point for the Net Capacity calculation should be a CAD drawing showing the accurate area of each space and correctly identifying the room usage.
The second stage is to ensure that each space can be assigned to the correct DCSF type category. In primary schools this is simply “General or “Specialist.” Secondary schools are more complex with “Light Practical” “Heavy Practical” or “Large and Performance” spaces.
Finally it is necessary to ensure that the appropriate DCSF status is applied; “Classbase, “Early Years”, “Teaching”, etc so that the spreadsheet can be completed.
The completion of the spreadsheet by manually entering data from the CAD drawing is a lengthy process, especially for a large secondary school. Manual entry also raises the possibility of keyboard errors occurring in during the transcription of data.
If a CAD drawing is correctly attributed with the DCSF categories assigned to the appropriate rooms means that data can be tansferred into a suitable pre-designed spreadsheet.
We Can
- Produce a CAD drawing if required or attribute an existing drawing
- Visit a schools to ensure that existing drawings are up to date and ensure that the correct categories of room use are applied
- Advise on setting up software to maximise the use of attributed CAD data