Buildings vacated at Grantham College after collapse-prone concrete discovered

A college has been identified as having collapse-prone concrete.

Reinforced autoclaved concrete (RAAC) was used in the construction of Grantham College according to a government list, updated on September 14.

RAAC is a less durable building material and is prone to sudden failure as time goes on.

Paul Deane, principal and chief executive of Grantham College, said: “I would like to inform you that a DfE-commissioned survey recently identified that RAAC panels were used in the construction of some of the college buildings, therefore we have taken the difficult decision to vacate the following areas at Grantham College.

“We will therefore be taking the above affected areas out of use whilst we put safety measures in place.

“We appreciate the concern this may raise, but we will always prioritise the safety of students and our staff.

Specifically, we have adjusted timetables so that face to face teaching can continue.

“DfE will be supporting us throughout and will also be assisting with longer-term remediation measures so that we can bring all students back into the affected classrooms and workshop areas once we are fully confident it is safe to do so.

“I appreciate that the timing of this decision, at the start of the Autumn term, is far from ideal.

“This decision has been taken out of an abundance of caution to ensure student safety and we will be doing all we can to ensure that the impact on students is kept to a minimum.

“Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.”

The affected buildings within Grantham College include all rooms in the link block, two rooms and some offices/storerooms in the engineering block, part of a large brick workshop and a library block.

All of these buildings have been vacated.

Grantham College also confirmed that surveyors were coming soon to assess what the next steps are to get the classrooms back in use.

Students timetables have also been adjusted so face to face teaching can continue.

Another 27 schools, including Grantham College, have been named in the updated list.

This comes after more than 150 schools were ordered to close at the start of term after they were also discovered to have RAAC.

In total, 174 schools have been found to have RAAC in them.

The full list can be viewed at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/

Grantham College has been approached for further comment.