Nine schools ordered to close over crumbling concrete fears given all-clear

Nine schools ordered by the Government to close or partially close for having suspected reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in their buildings were found to be clear of the crumbly material.

Last Thursday, the Government announced that 156 schools had suspected RAAC, but when the list of named schools was published this week there were 147 because nine had since been found to be free of the concrete.

The Government said that “in these instances, RAAC was listed as present by surveyors in initial tests, and action was taken to ensure safety”. It added: “Further work... has now confirmed that RAAC is not present in these settings, and no further action is required”.

One school on the Government’s published risk list for having RAAC was shut down but has reopened after no RAAC was found to be present.

Willowbrook Mead primary school in Leicester was placed on the Government’s list of 147 schools with the material, and ordered to close its key stage two block following a survey commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE).

The school reopened after its own independent survey revealed on Monday that it was free of RAAC.

“This inspection showed that there was no RAAC concrete in the school,” said a statement from the Mead Educational Trust. “This confirms the findings of an earlier RAAC survey that our trust carried out independently in June 2023.

“Considering that the school was preparing for months if not years in temporary accommodation, it is a huge relief that we can move pupils back into their classrooms and return to normal routines within the next week.”

The DfE has amended its report to show that there is no RAAC concrete at Willowbrook Mead.

In a letter to parents, Sarah Ridley, the chief executive of the Mead Educational Trust, said the DfE “has apologised to us for the disruption that has been caused to you and your families”.

It comes as just half of civil servants at the DfE were at their desks as the schools concrete crisis unfolded, according to new figures. Official statistics revealed that 49 per cent of officials were working from home when the news broke that hundreds of classrooms would have to close.

Rishi Sunak’s spokesman distanced the Prime Minister from the absences, insisting he “firmly believes in the importance of in-office working”.

In Birmingham, a primary school has closed despite not having RAAC confirmed on the premises and not having been placed on the Government’s published list.

On Wednesday, Oliver Wilson, the head teacher at Woodhouse Primary Academy, wrote to parents to say that there was a “possibility” of RAAC in the school and it would be closed with immediate effect, with pupils moving to online learning.

The school is still awaiting a DfE survey, while its own survey, completed in the summer term, found that “there may be some risk” of the concrete being present.

“I understand that this will cause significant worry and inconvenience, but please rest assured that every child and member of staff’s safety is at the heart of all our decisions,” Mr Wilson wrote to parents.

“We are now working as fast as we can to put in place surveys that will give us the confidence we need to reopen the school, and we will endeavour to resolve this as quickly as possible so that pupils are only learning remotely for as short a period of time as possible.”

A DfE spokesman said: “We are continuing to ramp up the surveys of suspected RAAC and, where it is identified, we are allocating schools with a caseworker to help put in mitigations or temporary accommodation as quickly as possible.

“We are incredibly grateful to school and college leaders for their work with us at pace to make sure that where children are affected, disruption is kept to a minimum, and in the even rarer cases where remote learning is required, it is on average for a matter of days not weeks.”