St Albans school reopens after RAAC closure
A building at Links Academy was forced shut over concerns of crumbling concrete in the summer of 2023
Last updated 24th Apr 2025
A school in St Albans, part of the Links Multi Academy Trust, has reopened its building after a prolonged closure due to the presence of RAAC.
Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), a lightweight concrete used in construction between the 1950s and 1990s, was identified as a structural risk in numerous UK public buildings, including schools and hospitals, leading to widespread closures and urgent repairs in 2023.​
David Allen, Executive Headteacher and CEO of the Links Multi Academy Trust, said: "We've worked really hard as a senior team to take this strain away from the from the leadership team and the students.
"We had a couple of very good people from the Department for Education, a gentleman called Toby Chambers was particularly good. He actually took the time to come out and visit the site and get to know us and work with us."
The building was initially closed in September 2023, with expectations to reopen in February 2024. However, delays in funding and approvals extended the closure until early 2025.
Mr Allen noted that the delays were due to bureaucratic processes, and said: "We would send in a proposal. They would read the first page and then send out. So lots of questions around the first page and then when we answer those and then read the second page, which meant that there was unnecessary delay."​
Despite the challenges, the school managed to continue its operations by relocating administrative functions and ensuring that classroom spaces remained unaffected.
Only one building of Links Academy was affected by RAAC, allowing the school to reorganise its operation within existing safe space.
Mr Allen said: "We were lucky because the rest of it is a timber roof. So we were able to then carry on."​
The support from local MP Daisy Cooper was instrumental in times of need, which Mr Allen said was "reassuring".
Ms Cooper this morning visited the school upon reopening and spoke to Greatest Hits Radio.
She said: "All of the hard work was done by the teaching staff here at the school, and they're the ones who have been liaising with the Department of Education for months on end.
"But there's no doubt that there were delays and it was becoming quite infuriating and frustrating for the school that they couldn't get the answers as quickly as they wanted, so it was a pleasure for me to be able to intervene on a couple of occasions and just to give the Department of Education a little bit of a shove in the right direction to make sure that we could accelerate the work that was happening here."
The financial implications of the repairs were however significant, with costs exceeding initial estimates due to inflation and delays.
The school explained that a budget had been agreed upon, but that unavoidable extra cost was absorbed by the school in the hope for prompt support from the government.
The Department for Education was contacted for comment.