She said: “Schools and colleges are busy welcoming pupils back after the summer break and will understandably face questions about RAAC from pupils and parents. There is currently an information vacuum that school and college leaders have not been equipped to deal with. The Welsh Government must provide a full picture of the extent of the problem as a matter of urgency. We are told that we may not know the results of further investigation for another two weeks, leaving schools and colleges in uncertainty.

“We are extremely sorry to hear that two schools in Wales have been forced to close as a result of this last-minute change in guidance. The action that has been taken is clearly necessary but has put school leaders in a very difficult position that they will now be doing their best to manage. This is a problem that has been known about for some time and it is deeply frustrating that this change in guidance has happened so suddenly at the start of term. The apparent breakdown in communication between the Department for Education and the devolved governments has clearly not been conducive to the handling of this situation. It is vital that all stakeholders urgently work together to find a resolution that minimises the disruption to young people’s education and the impact on school budgets that are already under enormous pressure.”