School building defects: What you need to know - as government plans to check older schools for safety issues

• Thousands of school buildings built after the devastation of World War II have outlasted their design life
• The government plans to hire contractors to carry out checks, to see if they are still safe
• Physical checks may not actually begin for some time
• But experts say it is ‘almost inevitable’ some schools found to be unsafe will eventually close

Thousands of old school buildings may need to be given detailed inspections - to make sure they are still safe for children.

Over the weekend, it was revealed that the government has appointed experts to investigate potential structural issues with England’s “system-built” school buildings put together after the second world war, The Guardian reports. This comes after a series of investigations into dilapidated public buildings by the paper, which has also identified numerous hospitals, prisons and courthouses in serious states of disrepair.

Official reports suggest that potentially thousands of older school buildings could need checking over for safety issues, and experts have told reporters that it was almost inevitable that some schools would be deemed unsafe - and may need to shut down altogether.

But exactly how many schools will be need an inspection, and will the process cause disruption for parents? Here’s what we know so far:

When will these inspections happen?

The Guardian reports that school buildings will not actually be surveyed by contractors for some time yet. The buildings erected after the devastation of the second world war were constructed quickly and cheaply, the paper says, often with poor record-keeping.

Initially, a team will be conducting research into what sorts of structural issues buildings from this era typically face. They will them carry out full structural surveys of a hundred old school buildings as a sample. Finally, they will then map how likely these buildings are to suffer different kings of problems, and make recommendations for how they can be prevented

The Guardian adds that they are on a £5 million, one-year contract, so actual inspections are unlikely to start for at least a year.

How many schools will be affected?

A Department for Education spokesperson has said that the government-managed school estate had been neglected for some time, an issue it was committed to rectifying. Besides the initial 100 schools, there doesn’t appear to be an exact number or a list of potentially-impacted schools available yet - although the National Association of Head Teachers’ union said that school leaders will need this information as soon as possible.

“It is important that the [Department for Education] is very clear about the total number of schools affected, and therefore vital that this work is completed as quickly as possible and that investigations are quickly scaled up based on the findings,” Paul Whiteman added.

A National Audit Office report from 2023 identified about 3,600 system-built school blocks that “may be more susceptible to deterioration”, the Guardian reports. Many of these buildings, which were built from 1945 onwards, have now outlasted their originally-intended design life.

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What could the impact be on schools and their pupils?

Just like in any instance where systemic structural issues are identified, schools that have them will need to be thoroughly checked over by experts to make sure they are safe. If they are not, that building may need to be closed off until it can be either repaired or rebuilt.

Perhaps the best-known example is the RAAC crisis. This a type of lightweight concrete used in many public buildings during the 1950s and 60s, which has later proved prone to sudden collapse. More than 100 schools were told to close off buildings containing RAAC last year alone.

This has happened with other recently-noticed issues too - and the inspection process can also cause some disruption for parents and caregivers. Back in September, at least 60 schools across Norfolk were checked over by the county council, with the BBC reporting some were closed for days while they were inspected, as a precautionary measure.

The buildings had ceilings covered with lath and plaster - an older method largely replaced by plasterboard now - which could be prone to collapse if damaged.

If your child attends a state school, what sort of condition are its buildings in? Let us know by leaving a comment below.