Asbestos in Schools Statistics UK: How Many Schools Are Affected?

The Department for Education’s 2019 Asbestos Management Assurance Process found asbestos in 80.9% of participating state-funded schools in England. This remains a useful historical baseline, not a new 2026 census. HSE’s 2022/23 inspections provide separate evidence about how selected schools across Great Britain managed the material. This page distinguishes building prevalence, management findings and estimates of disease associated with past exposure.

Key facts and figures

80.9% of participating state schools in England reported asbestos in their buildings (DfE AMAP report, 2019).
88.4% response rate — 19,522 of 22,072 invited English schools participated in AMAP by February 2019.
98.7% of the 15,858 schools answering AMAP’s survey question said they had commissioned an asbestos management survey.
86.6% of 15,824 schools answering the AMAP training question said their in-house maintenance staff had asbestos awareness training.
421 schools were inspected by HSE in 2022/23 — 7% of them required enforcement action.
13.3% of schools answering that training question reported none of the listed asbestos training for their in-house staff (AMAP, 2019).
140 schools received letters requiring action after HSE’s 421 inspections in 2022/23, including the 28 schools served notices.
2,146 mesothelioma deaths were recorded across Great Britain in 2024, all occupations combined.

Reviewed on 15 October 2026. AMAP describes responses collected in 2018/19. HSE’s detailed school-inspection report covers 2022/23; a June 2025 ministerial update covers the wider September 2022–March 2025 programme. HSE’s July 2026 mortality publication provides the latest national death figures. These sources do not establish a current asbestos-prevalence percentage for every UK school.

How many UK schools contain asbestos?

80.9% of participating state schools in England reported asbestos on their estate — 15,796 of the 19,522 schools that took part in the Department for Education's Asbestos Management Assurance Process, which collected data between March 2018 and February 2019. With an 88.4% response rate, the DfE noted that the true proportion could be as high as 83.5% once non-responding schools are allowed for. The AMAP report, published in July 2019, remains the closest thing the UK has to a census of asbestos in its schools.

BOHS cited an 83% estimate in February 2026, but that statement should not be treated as a repeat of the AMAP survey or evidence of a measured change since 2019. The AMAP report’s 83.5% upper figure was a scenario assuming that every non-responding school contained asbestos, rather than a measured result.

Asbestos was widely used during post-war school construction. A school built or refurbished before 2000 may contain it in insulation, ceiling or floor products and other building materials, as explained in our materials guide. AMAP covered state-funded schools in England; its percentage should not be applied automatically to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Measure	Figure	Data period and coverage
Participating English schools reporting asbestos	80.9% (15,796 of 19,522)	AMAP responses, March 2018–February 2019
Participation in AMAP	88.4% (19,522 of 22,072 invited)	English state-funded schools, 2018/19
Management survey commissioned	98.7% (15,653 of 15,858 answering)	AMAP question-specific responses, 2019
Schools reporting in-house staff awareness training	86.6% (13,711 of 15,824 answering)	AMAP, 2019
Schools inspected by HSE	421	Great Britain, 2022/23
Inspected schools served notices	28 (about 7%)	Great Britain, 2022/23
Schools reporting none of the listed staff training	13.3% (2,100 of 15,824 answering)	AMAP, 2019
Mesothelioma deaths, all occupations	2,146 provisional	Great Britain, 2024

Why do CLASP school buildings need particular attention?

HSE identifies particular asbestos-management issues in system-built schools, including CLASP buildings. Some have asbestos insulation around structural columns enclosed by metal casings. The AMAP report does not establish a 97% asbestos prevalence rate for this subgroup, and building type alone does not determine the present risk.

CLASP is a system of lightweight, standardised construction. HSE guidance explains that damaged asbestos inside columns, vibration and gaps in the casing can allow fibres to escape. Dutyholders need competent assessment, suitable repairs and ongoing monitoring; they should not open up or disturb column casings to investigate them themselves.

How many teachers and school staff die from asbestos?

Mesothelioma deaths recorded against teaching occupations are not a direct count of deaths caused by asbestos in schools. Occupational mortality data generally record an occupation rather than a complete lifetime exposure history, and the standard HSE occupational analyses cover ages 16 to 74. School staff may also have had exposure elsewhere.

This means the data cannot establish a precise annual number of deaths attributable to school buildings. They also omit older deaths from that occupational analysis, even though mesothelioma often develops late in life. National all-age deaths and occupational age-limited counts must be kept separate.

The NEU cites a research estimate of about 1,400 teachers and support staff deaths in Great Britain. This is a modelled campaign figure, not a confirmed count of deaths caused by exposure in schools.

How many former pupils are affected?

There are no official statistics on deaths of former pupils, because death certificates record occupation, not where someone's childhood exposure happened. Every figure in circulation for pupils is therefore a modelled estimate produced by unions and campaign groups, and should be quoted as such.

The NEU cites a projection of around 25,200 eventual mesothelioma deaths among former pupils exposed before the mid-1990s. This is a modelled estimate, not an observed death total or a prediction for pupils attending school today. The uncertainty about childhood exposure cannot be resolved by treating a campaign estimate as a surveillance count.

For balance, HSE's long-standing position is that asbestos which is in good condition, undisturbed and properly managed presents a very low risk. The argument between campaigners and the regulator is about how realistic that assumption is in an ageing school estate — which is exactly what the inspection data below speaks to.

What have HSE school inspections found?

HSE inspected 421 schools across Great Britain in 2022/23. Notices were served at 28 schools, about 7%: 28 improvement notices and two prohibition notices in total. Another 112 schools received letters requiring action, making 140 schools with such letters. These inspection findings describe the schools visited, not a random national sample.

The failures were not usually about asbestos being present — that is expected in pre-2000 buildings — but about how it was managed: registers that were incomplete or out of date, management plans that existed on paper but were not followed, and staff or contractors who had not been told where the asbestos was before starting work. Under Regulation 4 of CAR 2012, every school's duty holder must identify asbestos, assess its condition, keep a written plan and communicate the information to anyone liable to disturb it — the full requirements are set out in our guides to the duty to manage asbestos and the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

How many school staff are trained to deal with asbestos?

AMAP asked schools about the training of in-house staff who may undertake maintenance. Of 15,824 schools answering, 13,711 (86.6%) reported awareness training and 2,100 (13.3%) reported none of the listed training. Separate answers recorded 0.5% with licensable-work training and 0.9% with non-licensable-work training. Those small percentages do not mean that fewer than 2% had appropriate awareness training: working on asbestos requires a different level of training.

School caretakers and maintenance contractors can disturb asbestos during drilling, repairs and other work. Regulation 10 requires suitable information, instruction and training for workers liable to exposure. Awareness training helps workers avoid disturbing asbestos; it does not qualify them to carry out work on asbestos-containing materials. Our training duties guide explains the distinction.

In a later update to Parliament on 18 June 2025, minister Sir Stephen Timms reported over 1,000 HSE school inspections between September 2022 and March 2025, with 8% requiring enforcement-notice action. This wider campaign is distinct from the detailed 421-school findings for 2022/23 above.

How do schools fit into the wider UK asbestos picture?

2,146 people died of mesothelioma in Great Britain in 2024, according to HSE’s July 2026 provisional figures, and asbestos-related disease as a whole is estimated to kill around 5,000 people a year. Schools are one part of a much larger legacy: in April 2022, the Commons Work and Pensions Committee recommended that the Government set a 40-year deadline for removing asbestos from all non-domestic buildings, explicitly prioritising schools, and noted that over 300,000 business premises are still thought to contain asbestos.

For the national headline figures — deaths by disease, workforce exposure and the enforcement record — see our UK asbestos statistics page. For prevalence in housing and the wider building stock, see asbestos in UK homes and buildings.

Frequently asked questions

What is the AMAP report on asbestos in schools?

The Asbestos Management Assurance Process was a Department for Education data collection covering state-funded schools in England, gathered between March 2018 and February 2019 and reported in July 2019. It found that 80.9% of the 19,522 participating schools had asbestos on their estate, from an 88.4% response rate. The collection closed in November 2021 and has not been repeated, which is why the 2019 report remains the baseline figure.

What are CLASP school buildings?

How many teachers have died from asbestos in the UK?

There is no single verified total of teachers who died because of exposure in schools. HSE occupational analyses and campaign estimates have different age coverage and methods, and occupation at death does not establish where exposure occurred. The NEU’s figure of about 1,400 teachers and support staff is an estimate, not an official school-attributable death count.

Is my child at risk from asbestos in school?

HSE's position is that asbestos in good condition, left undisturbed and properly managed, presents a very low risk to pupils and staff. The concern raised by unions and BOHS is about how well that management works in practice in an ageing estate — HSE's 2022/23 inspections found around a third of the 421 schools visited fell short of the regulations in some material respect. If you have concerns, the school must hold an asbestos register and management plan you can ask about.

Should asbestos be removed from all schools?

The Work and Pensions Committee recommended a 40-year removal deadline in April 2022, which the Government rejected in July 2022. There is no general deadline requiring removal from every school. Material can remain if its condition and management prevent exposure; removal is needed where it cannot be safely managed or where planned work requires it.

For workers and duty holders whose jobs bring them into pre-2000 buildings — including school premises staff and the contractors who work alongside them — our CPD-certified Asbestos Awareness Course covers the training required under Regulation 10 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

Work in or on school buildings? Make sure your team can recognise asbestos before they disturb it.

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Sources & references

Mark McShane

Health & Safety Training Specialist, Online CPD Academy

Mark writes about workplace health & safety, asbestos awareness and accredited online training for Asbestos Awareness Course, part of Online CPD Academy.