Education Secretary orders headteachers to 'scramble' to sort through crumbling concrete investigations

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The Education Secretary has ordered headteachers to 'scramble' and investigate whether their buildings contain dangerous crumbling concrete.

Gillian Keegan said one. in 20 schools has yet to complete a questionnaire sent out last year and called on leaders to act quickly as the crisis worsens.

The Department for Education (DfE) has sent inquiries to bodies responsible for school buildings - including trusts and city councils - to find out if their buildings contained reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), following the 2018 collapse of a school's ceiling. RAAC is a potentially hazardous material used to construct schools, colleges and other buildings between the 1950s and mid-1970s in the UK.

The lightweight form of concrete has been described as being "80% air" and "like an Aero Bar" and its presence in schools caused the closure more than 100 days before the start of the new school year.

Addressing at Jeremy Vine on Tuesday, Ms Keegan said: "There are 5% of schools that did not respond to the survey.

"Now I hope all this publicity will make them upside down.

" Which I wish they would react to, because I want to be the secretary of state who knows exactly in every school where there is a RAAC and who is taking action.”

The Education Secretary's comments came a day after she was forced to apologize for a swearing rant in which she accused colleagues of having 'sat idly' over collapsing schools.

Gillian Keegan was filmed expressing her frustrations at the response to the Raac concrete scandal. after it emerged that Mr Sunak cut funding for rebuilding schools when he was Chancellor.

In footage released by ITV News, Ms Keegan - still carrying her microphone - criticized others and said she should be commended for doing a "good job"...