More than 100 schools have been told to shut down buildings and classrooms at risk of collapse because of crumbling concrete.
Schools, and colleges were warned to shut down parts of their estates by officials at the Department for Education on Thursday, only days before the start of school term.
Around 24 schools will have to fully close their buildings and find alternative teaching space, it is understood.
The schools are suspected of having “crumbly” reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) which could collapse.
A “minority” of the education settings impacted will have to find alternative teaching space for all pupils because of the amount of dangerous concrete found on site, DfE said.
The Government has been reviewing the risks posed by RAAC since 2018, when the roof of a primary school in Gravesend, Kent, suddenly collapsed.
A National Audit Office report in June found that 700,000 pupils in England are learning in schools requiring major rebuilding or refurbishment. Since 2021, DfE has assessed the risk of school building failure or collapse as critical and very likely, but it has not been able to reduce this risk, the watchdog found.
An internal DfE document advising officials on what to say to schools, seen by The Telegraph, advises caseworkers to tell schools: “I appreciate this may come as a shock and is likely to cause disruption, but the safety of pupils, students and staff is our priority. We are on hand to help you throughout this process and if necessary, to help you to implement any contingency plans quickly ensuring we keep disruption to face to face education to a minimum.”
“As RAAC has been identified in your school/college/nursery we are recommending you vacate all the areas with confirmed RAAC - even if they are assessed as ‘non-critical’ unless mitigations are already in place.”
Schools have been asked today whether mitigations are already in place to make areas with RAAC safe.
If they are not, schools have been told to contact surrounding schools and the local authority to identify alternative teaching spaces.
Parents will be contacted by their school if pupils are moving to a temporary location while remediation works are being carried out, the DfE said.
The Government has been aware of RAAC in public sector buildings since 1994. In 2018, DfE published guidance for schools about the need to have adequate contingencies in place for the eventuality that buildings with RAAC need to be vacated at short notice.
Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said: “Nothing is more important than making sure children and staff are safe in schools and colleges, which is why we are acting on new evidence about RAAC now, ahead of the start of term.
“We must take a cautious approach because that is the right thing to do for both pupils and staff.
“The plan we have set out will minimise the impact on pupil learning and provide schools with the right funding and support they need to put mitigations in place to deal with RAAC”.