Making the Most of the Summer Break: The Ideal Time for Survey Works in Education

For schools, colleges, and universities, the summer break offers a rare window where sites are quieter and access is easier. With teaching spaces temporarily vacated, it becomes the most practical time to carry out essential surveys that support maintenance, refurbishment, and new development projects.

At Kemp Chartered Land and Engineering Surveyors, we regularly support educational clients during this period, helping them make the most of reduced on-site activity to gather accurate, reliable data with minimal disruption.

Why Summer is So Valuable

During term time, educational sites are some of the most challenging environments to work in. Careful coordination is often needed around students, staff, and daily operations, which can limit access and extend programmes.

The summer holiday period removes many of these constraints. Survey teams can move more freely across campuses, complete work more efficiently, and capture larger areas in a shorter timeframe. This helps ensure projects are not only delivered quicker but are also based on more complete and accurate information before the new academic year begins.

Of course, not every project can wait until the summer holidays. Throughout the year, our fully DBS-checked surveyors work closely with facilities managers, estates teams, and school leaders to carefully plan survey activities around the day-to-day operation of educational sites. Whether that means working in phases, avoiding sensitive areas during lesson times, or scheduling work around examinations and events, our priority is always to minimise disruption to students and staff. While this approach can sometimes extend survey durations, it allows important projects to progress safely and efficiently without impacting learning.

Surveys That Support Every Stage of a Project

We provide a range of survey services to support educational estates at every stage of development, including:

• Topographical surveys to support planning and design
• Utility surveys to identify underground services and reduce risk
• Measured building surveys using 3D point cloud technology
• CCTV drainage surveys for maintenance and upgrades
• Drone surveys for wider campus overview and analysis
• Setting out to support new build and refurbishment works
• Digital twin (Matterport) surveys for immersive, web-based site walkthroughs and asset management

These services are often combined to give a full understanding of both existing conditions and future development requirements.

Recent Work in Education

We’ve been fortunate to support a wide range of educational projects across the South West, including:

• Roche Primary School, St Martins School, Helston School, Nancealverne and Malabar (Turner & Townsend)
  A mix of topographical, utility, CCTV and measured building surveys supporting both refurbishment and new development works.
• Launceston School (Kier)
  Utility, CCTV and setting out surveys supporting a new build programme.
• Newquay Primary School (Kier)
  Topographical and utility surveys providing essential site data for construction works.
• Treviglas School (Kier)
  A combination of surveys supporting ongoing development and site improvements.
• Penryn Campus (Exeter University / Explus management)
  Long-term involvement including full campus topographical surveys, utility work, roof surveys and drone capture, alongside setting out on key infrastructure projects dating back to 2002.
• Truro College (Midas and MBA)
  Measured building and roof surveys, alongside long-standing setting out support across multiple development phases.
• Cornwall College, Camborne
  Utility and GPR reinforcement bar surveys supporting structural and planning works.

Technology in Modern Education Surveys

Modern survey methods allow us to work faster and more accurately than ever before. UAV surveys, laser scanning and 3D modelling help provide highly detailed datasets, while Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) reduces uncertainty below ground.

Used together, these tools help project teams plan with confidence and reduce risk before construction begins.

A Key Moment in the Year

As the academic year ends, summer becomes a key period for preparing sites for what comes next. Completing survey work during this time helps ensure that when staff and students return, projects are already moving forward with the right information in place.

For many educational sites, it’s a short but important window, and one that often sets the tone for the year ahead.