Number of English schools containing RAAC climbs to 174

An RAAC panel damaged by water (Image courtesy of Prof Chris Gorse)

The number of schools in England containing crumbling reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) has increased to 174 according to the latest official figures.

The update in the figures comes as surveyors carry out checks on hundreds of schools every week for the material, which in many cases is coming to the end of its life, prompting fears that it could collapse.

The number of schools now confirmed as containing RAAC has increased by 27, from 147 as of 30 August, to 174 as of 14 September.

The government will continue to update the list every two weeks.

The presence of RAAC in public buildings across the UK has been a persistent challenge for several years and rose to prominence in 2018 after a sudden roof collapse at a primary school.

Separately, the UK government has also committed to rebuild seven structurally unsound hospitals containing RAAC.

But the issue of RAAC rose to national prominence in the UK in early September when the government announced that there had been three failures of “non-critical” RAAC in English schools discovered over the summer.

That prompted the government to issue new guidance on the material in education settings. It has also launched a widespread programme of inspections to determine the extent of RAAC in education settings across England.