Improving air quality in schools: the London School Filter Project
By George O’Ferrall, Senior Policy and Programme Officer, Air Quality Team, Greater London Authority
Since joining the GLA, I’ve led on delivering the Mayor’s School Filter Programme. This exciting programme, which is just one of the Mayor’s ambitious policies to tackle air pollution in London, could have a significant and positive impact on the health of pupils in London, particularly those living with asthma.
The Mayor of London is committed to improving both indoor and outdoor air quality and protecting the health of young Londoners. Thanks to ambitious air quality action by the Mayor, annual roadside NO2 concentrations in London dropped by nearly half (49 per cent) between 2016 and 2023 (1) and all educational establishments are estimated to be legally compliant with the NO2 annual mean UK limit by 2025. (2). However, most schools in London still exceed the more stringent World Health Organization interim guideline for particulate matter pollution (PM2.5) (3).
The Mayor previously commissioned the Nursery and School Audit Programmes to understand the types of effective interventions schools could implement to reduce the impact of poor air quality on the health of students. One of the recommendations from these audits was that indoor air quality filters (also referred to as air quality purifiers) could be an effective way to improve air quality in classrooms.
As part of the Mayor’s commitments, and in recognition of the positive impact that filters could have, he announced in February that he would launch The School Filter Programme, which will deliver PM2.5 filters into 200 schools across London. School selection has not yet taken place, however we aim to involve all London boroughs in the programme, with priority given to schools in more polluted areas of London and those in areas of higher deprivation. Alongside the provision of the filters themselves, the programme will also fund broader engagement with the schools on air quality, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation, which may inform further support and rollout of the filters.
The project will launch in early 2025. Do keep an eye out for communications from the Greater London Authority starting later this year!
(1) Data from Air Quality in London 2016-2024 report. https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/environment-and-climate-change/environment-and-climate-change-publications/air-quality-london-2016-2024
(2) Modelling from the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI) 2016 and the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI) 2019. https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-atmospheric-emissions-inventory–laei–2019
(3) London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI) 2019: https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-atmospheric-emissions-inventory–laei–2019