The government has told schools in England to immediately shut buildings made with aerated concrete until safety work is undertaken, the Guardian understands, in a move threatening plans to reopen next week for the start of the new school year.
In an escalation of the schools building safety crisis, the Department of Education has issued new advice – believed to have happened as recently as Thursday – stating that regardless of the assessed risk of a building made using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) blocks, such buildings should be “taken out of use and mitigations should be implemented immediately”.
Official communications seen by the Guardian acknowledge that “this may come as a shock and is likely to cause disruption” but say “the safety of pupils, students and staff is our priority”.
The DfE declined to comment on claims that the number of schools with buildings using the problem material was above 100. The department is understood to be planning to make a statement imminently and education unions said they had been told that a formal announcement was due on Thursday afternoon.
The Guardian revealed on Wednesday that officials were making hurried calls urging school leaders to draw up contingency plans for buildings at risk of collapse because of crumbling concrete. Now schools are being told to take buildings out of use straight away, in what appears to be a response to advice to proceed with greater caution.
Schools are being told that the government will help them implement contingency plans quickly to “keep disruption to face-to-face education to an absolute minimum”.
Decaying aerated concrete had been found in 65 schools in England after nearly 200 completed surveys, with 24 requiring emergency action, according to a report by the National Audit Office. The number of schools at risk is expected to increase when the results of surveys of 572 schools with suspected RAAC are published by the DfE.
Four schools were shut in April and June after RAAC was discovered in their buildings. On Wednesday, a DfE spokesperson said: “We have been engaging with schools and responsible bodies about the potential risks of RAAC since 2018 and subsequently published guidance on identifying and managing it.”
The Association of School and College Leaders said the rush to establish contingency plans in case buildings collapse was “symptomatic of the government’s neglect of the school estate”.
The shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson said it was “shocking evidence of a department in disarray”.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the NAHT, the union representing school leaders, said: “NAHT has repeatedly raised concerns about these buildings for a long time now, so while this news is shocking, sadly it is not hugely surprising. What we are seeing here are the very real consequences of a decade of swingeing cuts to spending on school buildings.
after newsletter promotion
“The government is right to put the safety of pupils and staff first – if the safety of buildings cannot be guaranteed, there is no choice but to close them so urgent building work can take place.
“But there is no escaping the fact that the timing of this couldn’t be worse, with children due to return from the summer holidays next week. This will put school leaders under tremendous pressure as they have to scramble to organise alternative accommodation.”
A DfE script that appears to be for use by officials contacted by potentially affected schools states: “As RAAC has been identified in your school/college/nursery, we are recommending you vacate all the areas with confirmed RAAC – even if they are assessed as ‘non-critical’ unless mitigations are already in place.”
It asks school leaders to confirm if propping, failsafing or strengthening works have been undertaken, how many affected spaces have undergone mitigations, and whether the school can fit pupils into spaces that are unaffected.
With just days to go before next week’s start of term, it tells them: “Ahead of the start of term you should plan to take any RAAC affected space that do not have mitigations out of use and timetable accordingly.”