The government has confirmed that no further schools in the North East have been identified as having RAAC, the potentially crumbling concrete that has already affected 11 schools in the region.

A Department for Education release today (September 19) confirmed that no further schools in the North East have RAAC, a type of unsafe concrete used to build schools from the 1950s that has been known to crumble spelling danger for pupils.

This comes weeks after St Teresa's Catholic Primary School and Carmel College in Darlington as well as many other schools in the North East faced disruption just days before the new academic year was due to begin.

Read more: RAAC Timeline: How did the crisis reach breaking point?

Kader Academy in Middlesbrough also saw disruption and closed after suspected RAAC in the first week of September.

However, following an inspection, the school was permitted to re-open on September 14.

Now, 27 schools in places including London, Warwick, Stockport, Essex and Lincolnshire have now all been newly identified by officials to contain RAAC.

Overall, 174 education settings in England have been confirmed with Raac as of September 14.

The original list – published earlier this month – showed 147 Raac sites as of August 30.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, has said a “clear plan” was needed to deal with the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) problem and it was a symptom of “years of neglect and underinvestment”.

“The 27 schools additionally identified today will all be working tirelessly to make sure children get the education they deserve despite the disruption,” he said.

“But we still need a real sense of a clear plan not just to put short-term mitigation measures in place, but to properly repair or replace buildings so they are fit for purpose.

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“Propping up ceilings with metal poles is clearly not a serious option in the medium or long term.”

He added: “This situation has been brought about by years of neglect and underinvestment in the school estate.

“Too many schools have been allowed to fall into a state of disrepair and the current crisis is just one symptom of a problem that has been long in the making.”

Cllr Shaun Davies, Chair of the Local Government Association has criticised the announcement and its lack of localisation, leaving councils in the dark.

He said: “Councils want to work with the Government and schools to ensure all RAAC has been identified and steps taken to fix it.

“However, we are concerned that councils have not been told which schools in their areas have yet to return their survey data.

“The Government must share the list of schools yet to fill it in with councils so they are able to support any school identified as having RAAC with urgent remediation works or find alternative classroom space where appropriate.”