The move follows its decision to close three modular-built schools at the start of the autumn term because they were deemed unable to withstand high winds. The schools were built at a total cost of £40m by Caledonian Modular, which went into administration in March last year. They are Sir Frederick Gibberd College, a secondary school in Harlow, Essex; Haygrove School, in Bridgwater, Somerset; and Buckton Fields Primary School, in Northampton. Safety issues emerged at these schools when two other Caledonian Modular-built primary schools had to be demolished before completion – and it was these discoveries that had triggered concerns over other Caledonian Modular schools.

The two had been discovered to be defective following Caledonian’s collapse into administration. The DfE is now reviewing other MMC contracts to identify where Caledonian Modular may have been involved. The DfE told EDB: “We commissioned an investigation of the quality of build prior to re-procurement that found very severe quality failures, which resulted in our decision to rebuild these two schools. Given that experience, we turned our attention to the three schools CML had delivered to us previously. We commissioned a survey, which highlighted issues that the buildings could not be confirmed as safe to use.” In 2020 the Government committed £3bn to commissioning off-site, modern methods of construction for large parts of its school building programme.