Crumbly RAAC concrete has forced three more colleges to close parts of their sites, according to the Department of Education.
An updated list of affected schools and colleges was published by the DfE this morning. It shows the number of education settings with RAAC has increased to 174, up by 27 since the list was first published two weeks ago. The new snapshot figures list settings that have confirmed RAAC as of September 14.
Farnborough College of Technology, Grantham College and Marple Sixth Form College – part of The Trafford College Group – have joined Petroc as the only further education colleges that have identified reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) so far.
One specialist post-16 college, Royal College Manchester (Seashell Trust) is also listed.
But all the colleges have their students in face-to-face education, according to the DfE’s list.
Only one affected school has switched to fully using remote learning.
DfE caused ‘significant hinderance’
Farnborough College criticised the DfE’s indecision for causing a “significant hindrance” after identifying RAAC months before DfE began ordering closures.
At first, the college surveyed its buildings which revealed RAAC, but, following the DfE’s standards, found the concrete planks were “generally in good condition” and did not have any cracking, back in July. The surveyors recommended it worked to improve the planks though some parts of the RAAC were “sub-standard”.
In early August the DfE said a technical advisor would visit the college within six weeks to verify the advice. However, on 31 August, just days before the start of term, it received an “urgent request for a meeting” when it was told all colleges with RAAC should close immediately.
Farnborough College told FE Week that it was forced to close 177,000 square feet of its space after the DfE sounded the alarm in August. “A small number” of its adult learners could not come in in the first week due to the RAAC problems, though they have now returned to college. The college has around 3,600 students on its books.
The college also had to re-sequence some courses so that they could continue to offer studies without specialist equipment currently stuck in the building where RAAC has been identified.
It is currently focusing on the theoretical side of the courses, before moving to the technical side once the buildings have been remediated.
The college expects to open seven of the fourteen blocks affected by the end of September, FE Week understands.
Farnborough College expects to spend £800,000 remediating the site, but that should be funded by the DfE. But it expects the full RAAC replacement project to cost “millions of pounds”. The DfE has also indicated that it will fund mitigating costs too.
‘Difficult decision’
Grantham College, which has around 1,200 learners in total, has also been forced to close parts of its campus after a DfE-commissioned survey found RAAC on four buildings in total. That forced a “difficult decision” to close those buildings, the college said on its website.
It has closed the entire Link Block, part of its engineering block, part of the construction workshop and part of its library block.
But the college said it had “adjusted timetables so that face-to-face teaching can continue”. Paul Deane, the college’s principal, said he appreciated the timing of the decision is “far from ideal”.
Trafford College Group, which serves more than 12,000 students across four colleges, has closed part of its Marple Sixth Form College campus including six classrooms. A spokesperson for the college said it had “restrict[ed] access to the affected area while we complete further surveys and if necessary, remedial works”.
“The classrooms affected will not be in use until we are reassured that they are fit for purpose and have passed all necessary health and safety checks,” they added.
The area is isolated on one side of the campus and there have been “no delays” to anyone starting term on time, as there is extra capacity. But it is “too early” to say when the RAAC will be removed from the site.
RAAC surveys are continuing across the country but surveyor shortages have delayed the vital checks in some education settings, including England’s biggest college group, NCG.
The DfE’s full RAAC list
Setting Name | LA Area | Setting Mitigation (14/09/2023) | |
Abbey Lane Primary School | Sheffield | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
All Saints C of E Primary School | Manchester | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Altrincham College | Trafford | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Anglo European School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Ark Boulton Academy | Birmingham | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Ark John Keats Academy | Enfield | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Arthur Bugler Primary School | Thurrock | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Aston Manor Academy | Birmingham | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
Avenue Centre for Education | Luton | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Baildon Church of England Primary School | Bradford | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Barnes Farm Junior School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Baskerville School | Birmingham | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
Batley Girls High School | Kirklees | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Baynards Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Beehive Lane Community Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Bentfield Primary School and Nursery | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Birchington Church of England Primary School | Kent | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Bishop Douglass School Finchley | Barnet | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School | Blackpool | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Brandhall Primary School | Sandwell | RAAC not present | |
Broomfield Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Buttsbury Junior School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Canon Slade School | Bolton | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Carmel College | Darlington | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Cherry Tree Academy | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Chipping Ongar Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Clacton County High School | Essex | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
Claydon High School | Suffolk | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
Cleeve Park School | Bexley | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Cockermouth School | Cumberland | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Colyton Grammar School | Devon | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School | Lambeth | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Cranbourne | Hampshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Danetree Primary School | Surrey | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Denbigh School | Milton Keynes | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Donnington Wood Infant School and Nursery Centre | Telford and Wrekin | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
East Bergholt High School | Suffolk | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
East Tilbury Primary School | Thurrock | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Eldwick Primary School | Bradford | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Elmstead Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Eversley Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Farlingaye High School | Suffolk | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Farnborough College of Technology | Hampshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Ferryhill School | County Durham | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
Godinton Primary School | Kent | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Grantham College | Lincolnshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Great Leighs Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Great Tey Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Hadleigh High School | Suffolk | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
Harlowbury Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Harwich and Dovercourt High School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Hatfield Heath Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Hatfield Peverel St Andrew’s Junior School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Henham and Ugley Primary and Nursery School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Hillhouse CofE Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Hockley Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Holcombe Grammar School | Medway | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Holy Trinity Catholic Voluntary Academy | Nottinghamshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Holy Trinity CofE Primary School, Eight Ash Green and Aldham | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Hornsey School for Girls | Haringey | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Hounsdown School | Hampshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Jerounds Primary Academy | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Joyce Frankland Academy, Newport | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Katherine Semar Infant School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Katherine Semar Junior School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Katherines Primary Academy and Nursery | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
King Ethelbert School | Kent | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Kingsbury High School | Brent | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Kingsdown School | Southend-on-Sea | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Lambourne Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Langney Primary Academy | East Sussex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Lubbins Park Primary Academy | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Markyate Village School and Nursery | Hertfordshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Marling School | Gloucestershire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Maryvale Catholic Primary School | Birmingham | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Mayflower Primary School | Leicester | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Merrylands Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Mersea Island School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Mistley Norman Church of England Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Mulberry Stepney Green Mathematics and Computing College | Tower Hamlets | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Myatt Garden Primary School | Lewisham | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Myton School | Warwickshire | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
Northampton International Academy | West Northamptonshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Ortu Corringham Primary School and Nursery | Thurrock | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Our Lady’s Catholic High School | Lancashire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Outwoods Primary School | Warwickshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Palmarsh Primary School | Kent | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Park View School | Haringey | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Parks Primary School | Leicester | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Petroc | Devon | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Pippins School | Slough | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Prince Albert Junior and Infant School | Birmingham | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Ravens Academy | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Redhill School | Dudley | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Roding Valley High School | Essex | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
Royal College Manchester (Seashell Trust) | Stockport | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Sale Grammar School | Trafford | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Sandbach School | Cheshire East | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Scalby School | North Yorkshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Selworthy Special School | Somerset | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Seven Mills Primary School | Tower Hamlets | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Shawfield Primary School | Surrey | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Sir Thomas Boughey Academy | Staffordshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Springfield Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Andrew’s CofE Primary School, Over Hulton | Bolton | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Harlow Green | Gateshead | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Bartholomew’s Catholic Primary School, Swanley | Kent | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Bede’s Catholic School and Byron Sixth Form College | County Durham | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
St Benet’s Catholic Primary School, Ouston | County Durham | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
St Clere’s School | Thurrock | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
St Columba’s Catholic Primary School, Wallsend | North Tyneside | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Elizabeth’s Catholic Voluntary Academy | Derbyshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Francis’ Catholic Primary School | Newham | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Francis Catholic Primary School, South Ascot | Windsor and Maidenhead | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Gregory’s Catholic Science College | Brent | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Helena School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Ignatius College | Enfield | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St James’ Catholic Primary School, Hebburn | South Tyneside | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St James’ Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | Kent | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St John Bosco Catholic Primary School, Town End Farm, Sunderland | Sunderland | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St John Catholic Primary School | Hertfordshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St John Vianney Catholic Primary School, West Denton | Newcastle upon Tyne | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St John Vianney RC Primary School | Haringey | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School | Buckinghamshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Joseph’s Catholic Voluntary Academy | Leicestershire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Lawrence Church of England Primary School, Rowhedge | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Leonard’s Catholic School, Durham | County Durham | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
St Mary and St John Junior and Infant School | Birmingham | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Michael’s Catholic School | Buckinghamshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, Thames Ditton | Surrey | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School | Darlington | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Thomas More Catholic Comprehensive School | Greenwich | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon | Gateshead | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
St William of York Catholic Primary School | Bolton | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Stanway Fiveways Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Steeple Bumpstead Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Stepney All Saints Church of England Secondary School | Tower Hamlets | Fully remote learning | |
Sunny Bank Primary School | Kent | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Surrey Street Primary School | Luton | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Tendring Technology College | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
The Appleton School | Essex | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
The Billericay School | Essex | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
The Bromfords School | Essex | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
The Coopers’ Company and Coborn School | Havering | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls | Ealing | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
The FitzWimarc School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
The Gilberd School | Essex | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
The Holy Family Catholic School, a Voluntary Academy | Bradford | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
The Honywood Community Science School | Essex | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
The Link School | Sutton | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
The London Oratory School | Hammersmith and Fulham | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
The Macclesfield Academy | Cheshire East | New case – triage in progress | |
The Palmer Catholic Academy | Redbridge | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
The Ramsey Academy, Halstead | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
The Thomas Lord Audley School | Essex | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
Thomas Bullock Church of England Primary and Nursery Academy | Norfolk | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Thurstable School Sports College and Sixth Form Centre | Essex | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements | |
Thurston Community College | Suffolk | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Marple Sixth Form College (part of Trafford College Group) | Trafford | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Waddesdon Church of England School | Buckinghamshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Wallingford School | Oxfordshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Water Lane Primary Academy | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Welbourne Primary School | Haringey | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Wells Park School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Westlands School | Kent | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
White Court School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
White Hall Academy and Nursery | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Widford School | Hertfordshire | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Winter Gardens Academy | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Wood Green Academy | Sandwell | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Woodkirk Academy | Leeds | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Woodville Primary School | Essex | All pupils in face-to-face education | |
Wyburns Primary School | Essex | Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements |
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