Years of chronic underinvestment mean 700,000 children are being educated in school buildings needing major repairs, with a £2 billion yearly shortfall in funding revealed.
The National Audit Office report also found more than a third of schools are beyond their “use-by date”, but government lacks “comprehensive information on the extent and severity of potential safety issues”.
The Department for Education has regarded the risk of a fatal building collapse as “critical and very likely” since 2021.
Meg Hillier, chair of the public accounts committee, said “worryingly government does not know how many schools may be unsafe.
