Call to increase exam grades for pupils at schools hit by concrete crisis

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Pupils at schools where teaching has been badly affected by the crumbling concrete crisis should be given higher marks in their GCSE and A-level exams, education experts have said.

More than 150 schools across the country were forced to fully or partially close just days before pupils returned to school in August after they were found to contain “unsafe” reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

The emergency decision to close schools, sparked by the collapse of one beam made of the lightweight material, prompted concerns about a host of public buildings constructed or renovated when Raac was popular between the 1950s and 1990s.

Raac has since been identified in more than 230 schools, as well as court buildings and hospitals. While only three schools were still having to use remote learning for some pupils as of November, others had been forced to use gym halls and Portakabins as classrooms, or use space at nearby schools.

A Durham University study has now concluded that students badly affected by the crisis should have their GCSE and A-level results fairly increased by up to 10 per cent this summer.

The study looked at St Leonard’s Catholic School in Durham, which is frequently among the top-performing state schools in the North East – but saw its teaching plans wrecked this autumn after Raac was found in several buildings.

“The government, Ofqual, and exam boards need to devise a plan to relieve the anxiety of the students in this school and any others like it, and offer them qualification outcomes equivalent to what would have happened in the absence of the crisis,” the study concluded.

Recommending that grades be increased, the study’s authors Professors Stephen Gorard and Nadia Siddiqui said: “The Department for Education could perhaps direct that something like this takes place as part of their package of measures to help those few schools faced with the worst of the Raac crisis.”

Their report found that the school had to shut at very short notice in September and no teaching took place in the first week. Online lessons started after that, with a slow resumption of face-to-face classes in often cramped conditions, while Years 7 and 8 are taught at Ushaw College, which is a four-mile bus trip away.

The school sports hall has been divided into classrooms but the lack of ceilings makes the acoustics poor, and pupils struggle to hear what teachers are saying.

In English and maths, pupils were taught in classes of 120 and recent internal assessments showed students scored around a grade lower than expected in tests. In other exam subjects, pupils are said to be weeks behind in the curriculum.

A science teacher told the authors: “I cannot do much lab work now. Students hate science now as there are no experiments and lab activities for them. This would impact on their academic performance.”

Head boy James Smith, who wants to study physiotherapy at university after his A-levels this summer, said: “The lack of suitable space in the school is really starting to have an impact.

“There is such a demand for space that pupils are searching for classrooms in their free periods, some students are going to local cafes to study, or having to go home and then return for later lessons.

“None of this is an effective way of learning and is very concerning when we are only five months away from our exams. I would urge the government to work with exam boards to allow for the continued disruption we are facing.”

Meanwhile, pupils are aware of the stress teachers are under. One said: “Teachers are tired and exhausted. It is so difficult to teach in sports halls where teachers have to talk loudly but still we cannot hear them clearly at the back row.”

A Year 11 pupil worried about how they will do at GCSE, saying: “My friends in other schools have done more things than we have here and they are far ahead from us. I am worried that my results would not be as good as I want because we have not learned things properly.”

Mary Kelly Foy, Labour MP for Durham, said that after enduring 17 weeks of disruption to their education, it was “completely unfathomable” why ministers, regulators and the exam board were not prepared “to offer reasonable adjustments” to their results.

Nick Hurn, chief executive of the trust which runs the school, also urged the Department for Education to rethink, saying: “We don’t accept that the minister cannot intervene, as precedent was set during Covid.

“In fact, I would go as far to say that school and trust staff have felt like we were going through the pandemic again, but on our own. We expect a measured and reasonable response to the report.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The safety of staff and pupils is paramount, and we have been working at pace with schools, including St Leonards, to identify Raac and minimise disruption to pupils’ education.

“Alongside Ofqual we have worked with awarding organisations to help facilitate discussions with affected schools. We have asked awarding organisations to, where possible, agree longer extensions for coursework and non-examined assessment so that schools have as much time as possible to complete this important part of pupils’ learning and qualifications.”

Additional reporting by PA