Thousands of students affected as 17 Edinburgh schools to close amid safety fears

Thousands of students face an uncertain future as 17 schools in Edinburgh are set to close because of fears over their structural safety.

About 9,000 students from primary, secondary and special needs schools across the Scottish capital will be affected, a number of whom will be sitting exams next month.

The City of Edinburgh Council said it was a “precautionary decision” to shut all of the premises built by Miller Construction. The council is unable to say when the schools will reopen.

The schools were constructed through the city's private finance programme, which was signed in 2001 as part of a £360 million deal.

A statement on the council’s website read: “The decision has been taken after remedial works taking place earlier today (Friday 8 April) at Oxgangs Primary School uncovered new issues relating to the school’s construction.”

“The Edinburgh Schools Partnership (ESP), who manage and operate the schools on behalf of the Council, and their technical experts were unable to give the Council sufficient guarantee that the schools are safe to open on Monday.”

Andrew Burns, leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, told The Independent: "Clearly we have every right to expect these schools to have been built to a good standard and in accordance with industry practice.

"We now know this isn't the case. ESP have let the council down but more importantly they have let the children, parents and staff of this city down.”

Concerns were first raised in January after part of a wall broke off Oxgangs Primary School during Storm Gertrude. The school was closed last month following an investigation that discovered problems with the stability of the walls. Three more schools, all built by PPP, were closed within a few days.

Further issues were found by contractors on Friday, leading to the closure of all schools built under the contract.

Angela Constance, Scottish Education Secretary, said the safety of pupils is “paramount”.

In a statement, Ms Constance said: “While this is primarily an issue for the council, the First Minister and I have spoken to the council leadership and offered the Scottish Government’s full support to keep disruption to children’s education at an absolute minimum.

"The First Minister will chair a meeting of the Scottish Government’s resilience committee to ensure that everything possible is being done to help.

Ms Constance added it was “too early” to consider the wider implications for Scottish schools, but offered assurances that necessary checks were being carried out.

These include 17 schools - 10 primaries, five secondaries and two additional support needs schools - and the Goodtrees Neighbourhood Centre.

The schools affected are Braidburn School, Broomhouse Primary, Castleview Primary, Craigour Park Primary, Craigmount High, Craigroyston Primary, Drummond Community High, Firrhill High, Forthview Primary, Gracemount High, Oxgangs Primary School, Pirniehill Primary, Rowanfield, Royal High, St David's Primary, St Joseph's Primary and St Peters RC Primary.