Permanent solutions needed to deal with RAAC

Despite government progress towards removing RAAC from schools, significant concerns remain about the condition of England’s school estate, the Education Committee reports.

MPs on the cross-party committee find that despite the government making significant progress in removing and remediating RAAC, the experience has affected the learning and well-being of pupils. Where RAAC remains an ongoing problem, they say temporary solutions cannot substitute for permanent fixes.

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) emerged as a major issue in 2023, when several buildings with RAAC collapsed. Designed to be lighter and easier to install than traditional concrete, RAAC which is beyond its intended lifespan can sometimes cause buildings containing it to collapse suddenly and without warning.

School leaders told the Committee that identifying RAAC led to disruption and uncertainty for schools. They said schools with RAAC remaining had to rely on disruptive temporary solutions such as marquees or modular buildings.

The Committee says the government’s efforts to professionalise estate capability, strengthen resilience and to improve transparency are important advances, but more action is required, particularly on the information that is held about school buildings. The MPs recommend that all responsible bodies should undertake a structured survey and risk assessment of higher-risk building types every three to five years.

MPs also say the crisis has highlighted issues with the ageing and fragile condition of England’s school estate. As of 2023, 38% of school buildings were beyond their estimated design life, including 10,000 built before 1940, according to the National Audit Office.

“Incremental fixes will not suffice,” the Committee says. It calls for the government to publish its promised estate strategy without delay, setting clear milestones for reducing the maintenance backlog and replacing life-expired buildings.

It also recommends that the government should align its work to address safety concerns with its goals to ensure mainstream schools are inclusive of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). All school buildings should be inclusive for children with a wide range of SEND needs and should provide an excellent learning environment for all children, MPs say.

Chair of the Education Committee, Helen Hayes MP, said: “The government has taken significant action to remove and remediate RAAC from England’s schools, but the RAAC crisis has come with a cost for the teachers, parents and most importantly pupils who have suffered serious disruption as a result.

"This crisis has laid bare the concerning condition of much of the school estate in England as a consequence of years of underinvestment. While this may require a great deal of work to fix, the quality of school buildings has a significant impact on pupils’ learning and every child deserves to be taught in a safe, secure and fit for purpose school environment."