RAAC latest: all your questions answered as schools close and pupils return to ‘lockdown learning’

104 schools and colleges have been told to partially or fully close – we answer YOUR questions as the RAAC crisis disrupts the start of the new school year

It’s feared some schools could be closed until 2024 due to the RAAC crisis, parents were warned today.

As the new academic year gets underway, more than 100 schools and colleges in England have been told to close or partially close after being identified as being potentially dangerous due to crumbling concrete. And it’s thought yet more schools could be identified in the coming weeks.

The Government has yet to publicly reveal the 104 schools which have been told to shut so far, meaning parents are nervously waiting to hear from their children’s schools.

It means thousands of children will have a disrupted start to the new school year, because of the risk presented by a concrete called reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Portacabins and marquees are being shipped into many schools as children are evacuated from crumbling classrooms, while others return to remote learning, with fears over how long it could go on.

Pupils in Essex look to be worst hit with at least 18 schools or colleges said to be impacted. Here is a list of all those we know are affected so far. 

Where RAAC is found, the Government is treating it as ‘critical’, which means they will prop the buildings up and put temporary accommodation into place.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan stressed the vast majority will be completely safe and the government’s approach is ‘very, very cautious’. 

Naturally parents have many questions – which we’ve answered below.

How many schools are affected?

The Government has not yet revealed the full list of schools which will close, partially close, or make other teaching arrangements because of RAAC safety fears.

However, the unofficial list of schools affected named online by schools, parents and councils is listed here.

Will my child’s school close?

Because of RAAC’s widespread use in construction, it was used both in new builds constructed around the ’60s and ’70s and in more historic school buildings that have had some renovation.

Tens of thousands of children are heading back to classrooms in England this week despite councils, schools and parents still being in the dark about risks from RAAC.

Some 1,500 schools have not returned surveys asking whether they have concerns about the concrete on their estates.

It means hundreds more schools could face shutdowns, Gillian Keegan said on Monday morning.

The Education Secretary conceded huge uncertainty remains over a slew of questions as she faced several interviews this morning.

Ms Keegan told BBC Breakfast on Monday that parents need to hear the news from their schools directly, and not from the media, which is why the government list has not been revealed yet.

What happens if my child’s school closes?

There are a number of options available.

Children could be evacuated to other sites.

Temporary accommodation on the school site could be erected.

Headteachers and their staff have growing concerns that some pupils face a return to lockdown-style online schooling due to a lack of portacabin classrooms available.

Ms Keegan said: ‘Many schools are either looking for alternative accommodation, if they’re within a multi-academy trust or within a local authority, or moving to another classroom if they’ve got spare classroom.

‘If it’s across the whole school, then that gets more difficult. So what we’re doing right now is we’ve assigned a caseworker for each one of the schools, for working with the school to figure out what the mitigation plans are.’

Ms Keegan said the government had ‘no choice’ but to close schools, and that it was not a decision it had taken lightly.

‘I want to reassure families that this is not a return to the dark days of school lockdowns,’ she added.

Who will pay for the school repairs?

Many of the affected schools are maintained local authority schools and single academy trusts which cannot afford the costs of repairs.

Gillian Keegan told BBC Breakfast the Government would foot the bill to repair or rebuild schools.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that he would not speculate on the potential cost of fixing the problem, but said: ‘We will spend what it takes to make sure children can go to school safely, yes.’

Who will pay for the temporary accommodation?

Labour members and union leaders have demanded clarity from ministers about who will pay for the fallout from the RAAC crisis.

Priti Patel, the Tory former Home Secretary who so far has 5 schools with RAAC facing closures in her Essex constituency of Witham, said the government should offer money to help schools struggling with the crisis.

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said it was ‘essential that all costs are covered by government, not this halfway house where school leaders are uncertain and unable to trust government guidance as to what costs will be incurred by their school.’

Are other public buildings at risk?

A wide range of public buildings have been constructed using a cheap version of concrete that could now be at risk of collapse, experts say.

Many hospitals, courts and public buildings were built with the material which has forced schools to close.

Prof Chris Goodier, of Loughborough University, said the ‘scale of problem is much bigger than schools.’

‘It also covers much of the building stock in the country,’ he said.

‘This also includes health, defence, justice, local government, national government, and also a lot of the private sector.’

What is RAAC and why is it dangerous?

RAAC is essentially a lighter-weight form of concrete, used to build roofs, schools, colleges and other buildings from the 1950s until the mid-1990s.

But experts fear that the material has now reached the end of its shelf life and is liable to collapse.

Schools in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also being assessed for the material.

The Scottish government has identified 35 schools with RAAC but said that none posed an ‘immediate risk’ to pupil safety.

The Welsh government said councils and colleges have not reported any presence of RAAC, while authorities in Northern Ireland have not found any schools at risk.

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