Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

Buildings at more than 50 schools in England were at risk of sudden collapse due to dangerous concrete, a minister has said.

It comes as more than 100 other schools scramble after being told to close buildings containing aerated concrete unless they are made safe.

In total, 156 schools have been confirmed as having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) since 2022.

Of those, 52 were deemed a critical risk, and safety measures have already put in place.

Asked on BBC Breakfast whether buildings at those 52 schools "could have potentially collapsed", Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: "Yes, and that's why we took action."

A further 104 schools with confirmed RAAC were deemed non-critical.

New guidance issued on Thursday told them to shut buildings and rooms with RAAC unless they have safety measures in place.

It has prompted a race to make alternative arrangements just days before the start of a new school term.

Catherine Burns
Health correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The problem with RAAC concrete goes beyond schools with several hospitals across England at risk of collapse.

In total, the government says 24 NHS buildings contain RAAC planks. Seven of them have been prioritised for urgent rebuilding work.

This has had an impact on government plans to build or refurbish 40 hospitals by 2030.

Originally, two RAAC hospitals were on that list. But in May, five more were added – pushing other places down the priority list.

Major teaching and education unions have criticised yesterday's decision to order more than 100 schools to close buildings over the discovery of structurally dubious reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Teaching union NASUWT said the government's announcement highlighted "more than a decade of wilful under-investment" in schools.

Its general secretary, Dr Patrick Roach, said the government has avoided a major disaster by "mere luck rather than judgment".

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said the announcement was "a sign of gross government incompetence".

Kebede said the government is "expecting schools to pay the additional costs" of its "shocking neglect of school buildings".

The general secretary of school leaders union NAHT called the news “shocking, but not hugely surprising”.

“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," Paul Whiteman said.

"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.”.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb has insisted the government has relied on new expert evidence to make its decision to close some school buildings.

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Schools minister Nick Gibb tells BBC Breakfast the government would cover the cost of "remedial action" following the change in safety guidance over RAAC concrete.

This will cover the costs of setting up temporary classrooms.

"We are taking a very precautionary, safety-first approach to our schools," says Gibb.

"We don't want any child at risk, or staff, in our schools, and that's why we've taken the swift action we've taken," he adds.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Schools Minister Nick Gibb has said it's possible some school buildings built using the RAAC type of concrete could have collapsed.

Gibb said in 2018 a warning notice - advising how to identify RAAC - was issued to all schools after a building in Kent was affected. New guidance was then issued in 2021 and 2022 about how to manage RAAC.

Gibb says that "the expert advice at that point was that if it's not in a critical condition, then it's safe to continue to use rooms that have RAAC, provided the RAAC isn't in a critical condition".

"Over the summer other evidence has emerged... that RAAC that had been regarded as safe actually failed, and that's why we took swift action to change the guidance and to change our approach," Gibb adds.

He says the government had been more proactive "than any other country in the world" about the issue.

Schools minister Nick Gibb has insisted the government has been proactive on the issue of buildings made with RAAC aerated concrete - which are at risk of collapse.

He tells BBC Breakfast that the Department for Education has worked on the issue since 2018 and has issued advice to head teachers and surveyed every school in England for the presence of RAAC.

He said the "vast majority" of English schools reported in a survey that they didn't have RAAC - only 156 out of 22,500 have been affected.

Image source, Getty Images

Steve Reed, Labour's shadow justice secretary, has been speaking on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

He renewed his party's call for the government to publish a full list of schools affected, and said a thorough investigation was needed to identify how many other buildings might be affected, including hospitals, courts and prisons.

"After 13 years of Conservative failure, the fabric of our public sector is literally crumbling," Reed said.

He also criticised the timing of the government's action, and said his colleague, Bridget Phillipson, shadow education secretary, had asked the government 150 questions in Parliament about the issue over the last two years.

"Imagine the fury of parents up and down the country today finding out that just days before the start of school term their school is going to be closed," said Reed. "They could have taken action at the beginning of the school holidays to start to get this preparation in place".

The shadow justice secretary said he wouldn't comment on possible spending commitments to rebuild certain facilities before the full scale of the problem was understood.

The head teacher of a primary school in Leicester has told the BBC about the impact of RAAC being found in her buildings.

Cas Evans from Parks Primary has had to relocate several classes and borrow rooms from other institutions such as a children's centre in her area, following the discovery in May of RAAC in parts of her school.

She estimates the cost so far, including having to get new toilet blocks for her pupils, is £30,000.

Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme she said it had caused "huge disruption".

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), the union for head teachers and college principals, has told the BBC it will be meeting the government this morning.

Julie McCullock, the ASCL's Director of Policy, told BBC News the group was "getting a sense from [its] members" about the questions and concerns they have about RAAC.

The government has ordered 104 English schools, nurseries and colleges with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) to close affected buildings.

But RAAC isn't just found in educational establishments. It's also been used in a lot of other public buildings - which is causing concern across the UK.

Numerous public buildings have been identified as being at risk, including hospitals and police stations.

In Scotland, more than 250 NHS buildings could have been built using RAAC.

Health officials in the identified buildings are working on an investigation to determine whether it is present - this is expected to take between up to eight months.

Just last month, Harrow Crown Court, in north-west London, was shut for the foreseeable future after RAAC was found during improvements.

Since 2018, those responsible for public buildings have been encouraged to conduct surveys to identify the material and have it removed if found.

The material at the centre of all this is a lightweight concrete that was used in roofs, floors and walls between the 1950s and 1990s.

RAAC is a cheaper alternative to standard concrete and because it's aerated, or "bubbly", it's less durable with a limited lifespan of around 30 years, and its structural behaviour differs significantly from traditional reinforced concrete.

According to Loughborough University, there are tens of thousands of these structural panels already in use and "many are showing signs of wear and tear and deterioration".

The Health and Safety Executive says RAAC is now beyond its lifespan and may "collapse with little or no notice".

In a statement on Thursday, the Standing Committee on Structural Safety (SCOSS) noted that: "Although called 'concrete', RAAC is very different from traditional concrete and, because of the way in which it was made, much weaker."

Read more here.

Image source, .

Many of today's newspapers feature the story about potential school disruption over RAAC on their front pages.

The Guardian describes it as "school chaos" and the Daily Telegraph says "lockdown returns".

The Daily Express asks on its front page "Why did it take five years to shut unsafe schools?" - saying the problem has been known about for some time.

The Times talks about pupils being turned away over a "collapse risk".

See our full paper review here.

Yesterday evening, we heard from Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, who urged parents not to worry about the school closures.

She said most parents need not be worried at all - there are more than 20,000 schools in England, and just over 150 have RAAC present. Each will get an individual case worker to help with the response.

"We are working to minimise this a much as possible. The priority for me is your children's safety and that's why we are taking these precautionary measures," she said.

Keegan revealed a questionnaire was sent out to schools to identify which may have RAAC present. Not all of these have been returned, she said, urging schools to ensure they have completed it.

On the question of timing, Keegan said the department had been learning about RAAC and became "a bit more concerned", leading to the intervention.

"So we are doing something we don't normally do as a department of education," she said.

Image source, Getty Images

As details begin to emerge, the government has not said when it wil publish a list of affected schools, drawing criticism from the Labour Party.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson says Labour had not seen the full list and urged ministers to "come clean with parents and set out the full scale of the challenge that we're facing".

On Thursday, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said affected schools would be contacting parents directly, adding: "If you don't hear, don't worry."

Schools found with buildings containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) have been told they must introduce safety measures, which could include propping up ceilings.

A "minority" will need to "either fully or partially relocate" to alternative accommodation while those measures are installed, the Department for Education (DfE) has said.

Anna Boyd
BBC News

We're resuming our live coverage this morning following yesterday's announcement that thousands of pupils in England are having their return to school disrupted over fears for the safety of their buildings.

Ministers have been urged to "come clean" about the scale of the problems facing some of England's schools built from a type of aerated concrete called RAAC.

More than a hundred schools are scrambling to put emergency safety measures in place as children return from the summer holidays.

Some students have been told they won't be allowed into class and will have pandemic-style online lessons instead.

Ministers say they are taking a "cautious approach" after seeing "new evidence" but won't publicly reveal the 104 education facilities which have been told to shut buildings.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest developments on this story throughout the day. We're also hoping to answer your questions on this issue later today.

We're going to leave our live coverage of this story here now. A new team will be back first thing in the morning to bring you any developments.

If you'd like to read our comprehensive news story on this topic you can find it here.

And here's a simple take on what we know so far.

Finally, a reminder that if you're affected and you'd like to tell your story, you can get in touch in the following ways (please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist).

• WhatsApp:+44 7756 165803
• Tweet:@BBC_HaveYourSay, external
• Email: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk, external
• Upload pictures or video, external
• Please read our terms & conditions and privacy policy

This afternoon, we learned that the government had issued directives to more than 100 schools in England to close certain buildings, just a few days before the start of the new academic year.

It said it had identified a building material known as RAAC that is prone to collapse.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan told us the condition of each affected school will be different, so it's up to individual schools to advise students and parents of the situation.

You can see what she had to say here:

This evening we've heard from a number of parents across the country, many concerned about the timing of the closures and the subsequent disruption to learning.

Some schools are moving students to safer buildings, others are transitioning back to online learning.

We've also spoken to experts who told us RAAC is present lots of buildings, not just schools, as it is a material that's been in use for about 50 years.

What we don't know is whether it's considered a risk in other public buildings, such as hospitals, police stations and courts, and what the ramifications might be for them.

The Department for Education (DfE) has published a guide which it says tells you everything you need to know, external about plans to tackle RAAC in schools in England.

We've pulled together a brief summary:

• The DfE has been helping schools manage the potential risks since 2018, but "new cases have made us less confident that buildings containing RAAC should remain open without extra safety measures in place"
• Every education setting confirmed to have RAAC will be supported by a dedicated caseworker
• Not every school affected by RAAC will need to close, and in most cases children will be able to continue attending school as normal
• This change in guidance covers state-funded educational settings. If your school is affected, they will let you know if there are any changes to term starting
• Over £15bn has been given by the DfE since 2015 to keep schools "in good working order" and £1.8bn has been committed for 2023/24