The government has named more than 40 more schools and colleges with buildings containing autoclave reinforced concrete (RAAC).
An updated list published by the Department for Education (DfE) includes a further 43 educational settings where RAAC has been confirmed, bringing the total to 214.
Of these, 202 continue to offer face-to-face learning for all students, while 12 have implemented hybrid systems. None have had to switch to full-time distance learning.
Last year, the government issued a questionnaire for schools and universities to identify suspected RAACs. In a written ministerial statement, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said responses had been received for 99.9% of schools and colleges with blocks built in the relevant years.
Officials are in contact with institutions to resolve the remaining 17 required responses.
The Government is funding the emergency work required to mitigate RAAC, which may include the installation of alternative classroom spaces.
It is also funding “long-term rehabilitation or reconstruction projects to address RAAC’s presence in schools,” Keegan said.
The minister wrote: “Schools and colleges will be offered capital grants to fund reform works to permanently remove the RAAC, or rebuilding projects where necessary, including through the Reconstruction Scheme “schools. We are working closely with the responsible bodies to assess what is the appropriate solution for each case”.
The DfE is advising educational settings to leave areas known to contain RAAC “unless or until appropriate mitigations are in place”.
RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete that was often used in construction between the 1950s and the mid-1990s. It is found predominantly in roofs and occasionally in floors and walls.
It first emerged as an issue after the sudden collapse of a school roof in Kent in 2018. A report by the Standing Committee on Structural Safety the following year warned that the material was inherently “much weaker” than the traditional concrete and had a “useful use”. life” of about three decades.
In September 2022 the Government Property Office sent out a notice to all property leaders warning that the entire RAAC was “expired and liable to collapse”.
Then a series of RAAC failures in quick succession sounded a great alarm at the end of August.
