All 17 Edinburgh schools found to have faults

Faults have been found in all 17 Edinburgh schools closed over safety concerns.

Nearly 9,000 pupils were unable to return to school in Edinburgh after the Easter break, as 10 primaries, five secondaries and two additional support schools were closed due to concerns over serious structural problems.

All of the schools were built and managed under the same £130 million public-private partnership (PPP) programme run by the Edinburgh Schools Partnership.

Andrews Burns, Edinburgh City Council leader, has said that early indications suggest evidence of faults across all 17 schools to a varying extent.

He said: “At the moment it is too early to say what the impact will be as full survey results from Edinburgh Schools Partnership have not yet been received. Some faults may be easy to fix and may not present a major problem while others could be longer term.

“What is certain is that we won’t take risks with the safety of our schools children and schools won’t reopen until Edinburgh Schools Partnership can assure us of their safety. As part of the contract, Edinburgh Schools Partnership own, maintain and assure the safety of the affected buildings.

“We will publish further information on individual school surveys when these are formally received and of course provide an update to parents on their individual schools and the remediation works required.”

Structural surveys will continue this week to clarify the full extent of the problems.

Around half of the pupils affected have now returned to lessons, either in their own schools or housed in other nearby secondary schools. Officials have said that the remaining pupils will be rehoused by Tuesday 19 April.