Transparency data

Background on RAAC management information

Updated 6 December 2023

Applies to England

Overview

This page provides background on the published management information relating to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in education settings.

All management information on RAAC refers to state-funded schools, maintained nursery schools and further education (FE) colleges in England.

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC)

RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete which was used in building construction from the 1950s until the mid-1990s.

The Department for Education (DfE) has been talking to settings in more detail about the potential risks of RAAC since 2018, when we published a warning note with the Local Government Association.

There is further information on identifying RAAC and guidance for responsible bodies and education settings with confirmed RAAC.

The latest published management information covers the identification of RAAC and current mitigations in place in settings where RAAC is confirmed.

Identifying RAAC

DfE contacted the bodies responsible for all state-funded schools, school nurseries and FE colleges in England in 2022 to ask whether they had any confirmed or suspected cases of RAAC in their buildings (or to confirm there was no suspicion of RAAC) via a questionnaire.

When a positive response was received on the presence of RAAC (either from the questionnaire or from DfE casework), DfE-commissioned engineers carried out surveys to confirm the presence of RAAC.

The latest published management information covers:

• ‘Number of settings with buildings in the target era’: the number of education settings with buildings built from the 1930s until the 1990s, the era targeted by DfE for the identification of buildings most at risk of RAAC, as recorded in the Schools Condition Data Collection
• ‘Questionnaire response rate’: the proportion of education settings with buildings in the target era for whom responsible bodies have responded to questions in the DfE RAAC questionnaire

A survey either confirms whether RAAC is present or not, or indicates that further investigation is required. DfE reviews the survey findings and, where the surveys confirm the presence of RAAC, this is shown in the management information as ‘settings with confirmed RAAC’.

Mitigations where RAAC is confirmed

The latest published management information shows a summary of the number of settings with confirmed RAAC and the mitigations in place at these settings at the specified date.

Mitigations could include taking the space out of use, or carrying out structural work so the space can continue to be used. Mitigations depend on a number of factors, including type of building, building use and the extent of RAAC in the space.

The status of mitigations is categorised as follows:

• ‘All pupils in face-to-face education’: all students receiving face-to-face learning on site or nearby
• ‘Mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements’: some remote learning is being offered on some days as not all students can currently receive face-to-face education
• ‘Start of term delayed or temporarily closed’: accommodation is currently being finalised or start of term has been temporarily delayed (only applicable to confirmed cases as of 30 August 2023)
• ‘Remote learning’: settings will operate remote learning while arrangements are finalised
• ‘New case - triage in progress’: settings where RAAC was confirmed very recently and mitigations are still under discussion

For a small number of settings, further investigation has established that the setting does not have RAAC present. RAAC was listed as present by surveyors in initial tests, and action was taken to ensure safety. Further work by DfE, schools and responsible bodies has now confirmed that RAAC is not present in these settings and no further action is required.

The settings that were marked as “RAAC not present” and were previously unnamed in the list as of 30 August 2023 have been removed from subsequent lists.

The latest publication is based on settings with confirmed RAAC as of 27 November 2023 and mitigations were confirmed with settings during the week commencing 27 November 2023. This reflects the time required for DfE caseworkers to confirm the mitigations for publication and for quality-assuring the data.

Previous tables published and related background information are available on the National Archives for data:

• as of 30 August 2023
• as of 14 September 2023
• as of 16 October 2023

List of education settings with confirmed RAAC

The latest published management information includes the detailed list of education settings with confirmed RAAC and the mitigations in place in each of these settings at the specified date. Each setting with confirmed RAAC will be affected differently and the mitigations put in place in settings can vary in duration.

The list includes:

• the name of the education setting
• their unique reference number (URN)
• their local authority establishment number (LAESTAB)
• the phase of education
• the type of setting
• the status of mitigations at the setting (in the current and previous publications)
• the date of the publication where the setting first appeared
• a link to the setting’s website
• the region, local authority and parliamentary constituency where the setting is located

Data quality

This management information is a snapshot of data at the specified date, published for transparency purposes. Data is subject to frequent changes as the results of surveys are confirmed and mitigations are put in place.

Further review of casework data highlighted some inconsistencies in the recording of mitigations in 2 settings compared to detailed casework information. The settings list as of 14 September was corrected on 16 October for 2 settings. As a result, 2 settings moved from all pupils in face-to-face education to mix of face-to-face and remote arrangements. Overall trends are unchanged, the vast majority of settings with confirmed RAAC (84%) having all pupils in face-to-face education on 14 September. Additional quality-assurance has been put in place to minimise the risk of errors on mitigations recording in the future.

Details on schools and colleges are sourced from the Get Information about Schools service.