About PBES

The key purpose of the Programme Board for Education Space (PBES) is to: 

  • Define the University’s vision for education space, and to work with the Estates Division, University Information Services and Schools, Faculties and Departments.
  • To stimulate collaboration across the University; prioritise the development of areas most in need
  • To advocate to Estates the requirements of those engaged in education, and to set the operating standards, which can be implemented in new builds and monitored in current spaces. 


PBES, is accountable to the General Board, and reports to the Planning and Resources Committee (PRC) and supports the delivery of the vision for the education estate whilst also ensuring initiatives proposed by Schools, Faculties and Departments support the strategic education needs of the University. Noting the importance of education space, the University’s General Board agreed a formal Education Space programme within Reshaping our Estate.

Read about the vision, priorities and work programme for PBES for 2024-26 and the progress report for the 2024-25 Academic Year.

In summary the goals are: 

  • To improve the learning environment for staff and students, including accessibility, AV/IT support, quality standards, information and feedback.
  • To allow evidence-based decisions, which requires data synthesis, analysis and insights.
  • To maximise the use of the current and future learning environment, by having sufficient, useable and adaptable space that supports the requirements of pedagogy, student numbers and needs, policy, regulation now and in the future.
  • To adopt systems and technology to enable delivery of strategic ambitions, which also includes change management and change support
  • To articulate the vision for education space and to establish effective governance links with student planning, education space development, pedagogy and policy, including the change programmes.

The Board supports initiatives around education space at School and department level, as well as coordinating space-related work in Education Services, Estates Division, and University Information Services. PBES has also carried out refurbishments and other projects to deliver improvements to the provision and quality of shared teaching space across the University, thanks to £5m funding approved by PRC. You can find out more about these projects in the news section. 

PBES works with a number of other projects and initiatives focused on delivering improvements to education space and planning including:

  • The Digital Assessment Programme which aims to develop a long-term approach to University-wide digital assessment for locked down, invigilated, in-person summative exams
  • The Cambridge Timetabling Project which aims to introduce a new and improved timetabling service which will offer advanced software designed to publish and schedule teaching timetables efficiently. The new system is currently being used at the School of Biological Sciences and a pilot is underway with the School of Clinical Medicine.

The Board’s priorities are:

  • Consultation and feedback: We seek the views of Schools, faculties and departments on education space at Cambridge. Members of the Programme Board will consult a wide range of students and colleagues in order to inform our plan of action.
  • Data-gathering and modelling: We collect as much information as possible about educational need and current patterns of space usage, and develop better modelling tools to process that data, to ensure that our recommendations are based on robust evidence.
  • Identifying and sharing good practice: We gather examples of good practice, successful projects and innovative ideas around education space, from across the University and beyond.

Areas of focus for the 2025-26 Academic Year are: 

  • Teaching and learning experience – defining the specifications for teaching and exam space, and ensuring those using space have information on it.
  • Data and insight – working to create valid data sets around education space and its use, to ensure greater visibility and for decision support, and to support systems for manage space
  • Education needs – increasing available exam space and preparing for digital assessment.
  • Development of new systems – PBES oversight of scheduling and rooming booking, and the University wide strategic approach to replacing Timetable.cam
  • Governance – PBES to continue to oversee the PRC funded improvement projects.