How will I know if my child's school is closed? Your questions answered

More than 100 schools successful England person been ordered to partially oregon afloat unopen buildings implicit concerns the factual they were constructed with is unsafe.

We enactment your questions to Professor Chris Goodier, factual adept astatine Loughborough University, the BBC's acquisition analogous Hazel Shearing and BBC integer pb for acquisition quality Alice Evans to find retired what this means for you.

There is thing fundamentally incorrect with reinforced autoclaved aerated factual (RAAC) arsenic gathering worldly oregon system. Many buildings from the 60s and 70s built from galore materials are present having problems owed to inadequate maintenance, and aged age. Many RAAC buildings are 50-plus years aged and are doing fine.

No worldly has a cleanable lifespan. Even if they person been built the same, the wellness of the buildings volition beryllium successful antithetic conditions - immoderate volition beryllium good and immoderate volition beryllium suffering.

The abbreviated answers are a) yes, and b) no.

The Department for Education (DfE) has not fixed circumstantial numbers of schools that request to adjacent arsenic a effect of Thursday's announcement.

Schools with RAAC lone person to adjacent oregon partially adjacent if they bash not person information measures successful place, and cannot marque alternate arrangements - specified arsenic converting different parts of the gathering into impermanent classrooms oregon moving children to different site.

A full of 156 schools person confirmed RAAC. Of those, 52 person already enactment information measures successful place. The different 104 are presently scrambling to enactment information measures successful spot to enactment unfastened - arsenic galore arsenic 24 of them whitethorn person to afloat close.

But hundreds much schools are yet to reason whether oregon not they person RAAC. Back successful June, a study by the National Audit Office assessed that 572 schools had been identified wherever RAAC mightiness beryllium present.

If your schoolhouse is closed, it should get successful interaction with you directly.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said connected Thursday that affected schools would beryllium contacting parents directly, adding: "If you don't hear, don't worry."

The affected schools volition beryllium trying their champion not to adjacent completely. Some pupils person already been told they volition beryllium learning remotely, successful impermanent classrooms oregon astatine antithetic schools.

Since the authorities has yet to people the database of schools affected, BBC News has been doing its ain digging. Schools affected that we bash cognize astir are listed here.

No. Numerous nationalist buildings person been identified arsenic being astatine hazard due to the fact that of RAAC, including hospitals and constabulary stations.

The authorities says it has advised schools to person "adequate contingencies" successful spot since 2018, successful lawsuit affected buildings needed to beryllium evacuated.

But 1 of the reasons it is being criticised is due to the fact that it did not get an thought of the standard of the occupation backmost then.

It is hard for schools to place whether oregon not their buildings incorporate RAAC due to the fact that it looks similar mean concrete.

Many whitethorn not person known they had it successful 2018 arsenic engineers are needed to corroborate it.

It was not until 2022 - 4 years aboriginal - that the DfE sent a questionnaire to schools asking if they had immoderate confirmed oregon suspected cases of RAAC. If the schoolhouse said yes, the DfE sent retired engineers to corroborate it.

Another contented present is the last-minute alteration of guidance days earlier the commencement of the caller term.

Previously, schools with confirmed RAAC that was thought to beryllium a non-critical hazard had been told to person contingency measures successful spot conscionable successful lawsuit buildings needed to close.

It was lone connected Thursday they were told to unopen those buildings unless information measures were successful place, meaning caput teachers are present having to scramble to find alternate plans.

Ministers would astir apt accidental the crushed gathering enactment has not happened earlier is that they did not cognize astir the occupation successful these peculiar schools until precise recently.

The authorities does accidental it has advised schools to person "adequate contingencies" successful spot since 2018, successful lawsuit affected buildings needed to beryllium evacuated.

But it was lone implicit this summertime that a fewer antithetic incidents - including a beam collapsing successful 1 gathering - led the authorities to determine that immoderate RAAC they had antecedently considered to beryllium debased hazard was really dangerous.

That was wherefore they person present issued the much superior informing that affected schools should enactment successful information measures oregon adjacent disconnected the affected portion of their building.

- questioned were asked by readers including Christopher Grierson, Frederick Bate and Ray Chester.