FOUR school buildings in Buckinghamshire containing dangerous concrete will be rebuilt or refurbished, the government has confirmed.

It says all affected schools will receive funding to permanently remove it - although, unions say the announcement includes no new money.

In England, 234 schools contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac).

The material was used as a cheaper alternative to standard concrete.

But after a beam collapsed, schools containing Raac were told to shut areas where no safety measures were in place, just days before the start of term last August.

All schools built in the era when the concrete was used have now responded to a questionnaire, the Department for Education (DfE) has said, and surveys have been completed on all those that suspected they might have Raac.

Raac, used between the 1950s and 1990s, has a lifespan of about 30 years .

Of the 234 schools and colleges in the UK confirmed to contain the concrete:

Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School in Marlow and Waddesdon Church of England School will receive grant funding to remove it from their buildings.

 St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School and St Michael’s Catholic School will be rebuilt or refurbished through the school rebuilding programme (SRP).

Cheddington Combined School has no RAAC present.

All 234 (about 1% of all schools in England) have reportedly returned to face-to face learning - but many children are still being taught in marquees, portable classrooms or off site.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “Nothing is more important to me than the safety of every child and member of staff in school.

“We will continue to work closely with schools and colleges as we take the next step to permanently remove Raac from affected buildings.”

The DfE has said its Raac identification programme is now complete as 100% of schools and colleges with blocks built in the target era have responded to their questionnaire.

Earlier this week, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), sent an open letter to the Education Secretary calling for schools with Raac to be exempt from Ofsted inspections until they were “fully operational”.

A school or college that has confirmed Raac on site will be eligible for an inspection this term, but they can ask for an inspection to be deferred.

In a letter to Ms Keegan, Mr Barton said managing Raac was still creating “major issues” for schools – including lack of access to specialist equipment and limited or no catering facilities.

Last month, the ASCL called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to introduce in his spring Budget a new recovery funding stream – which could be used for catch-up provision – for all the schools affected by Raac.

The union warned in its submission to the Treasury that an “unacceptable” wait for mitigation works at Raac-affected schools meant parents were withdrawing their children and moving them to different schools, and applications for September 2024 for these affected schools were down.

Following the DfE’s announcement on Thursday, Mr Barton said: “We welcome this much-needed clarity on the nature of the work to remove Raac from the schools and colleges affected.

“This is an important step, but it is only one step towards solving this crisis and a number of unanswered questions remain.

“Given the severe pressures on the school estate as a whole, we need assurances that this work will be funded wholly through additional capital expenditure and money will not be diverted from other sources.

“There must also be clear timelines set out for when this work is going to be completed.

“We continue to urge the Government to provide better support for schools while they wait for Raac to be removed, including through the introduction of a new recovery funding stream to enable catch-up provision for pupils whose learning has been impacted.”