Universities and colleges: the higher education trap

Schedule 1 holds childcare, primary, secondary and further education at standard tier however many people are present. Higher education is deliberately not in that group.

So a sixth form college with a 1,000-capacity hall is standard tier, and a university with the same hall is enhanced tier. The buildings can be identical; the classification is not.

A large estate will usually contain a mix: most buildings out of scope, many at standard tier, and a handful at enhanced tier: the big lecture theatres, the students' union, the sports arena, the graduation venue.

Enhanced tier premises need registration with the SIA, public protection measures kept under review, a security document, a designated senior individual, and re-provision of the document within 30 days of every revision.

Assess each premises on its own realistic peak. A lecture theatre used at capacity in week one and half-empty in June is judged on week one.

Include staff, and include events. A venue that hosts graduation, open days or external conferences may cross a threshold on those days even if term-time use is well below it.

Franchise arrangements and shared campuses are common, and the classification follows how the premises is wholly or mainly used rather than the name of the organisation.

Where a building genuinely serves both, record the reasoning behind the classification you land on. It is exactly the sort of judgement that needs to be explainable later.