Report due 'imminently' on school shut over cracks
BBCInvestigations into damage that forced a school to close are said to be nearing completion.
Engineers are working to determine the cause of cracks that appeared in the structure of Prudhoe High School, in Northumberland, in February.
The building, which opened in 2016, has been closed for almost four months with pupils being taught 16 miles (25kms) away at Washington, near Sunderland.
The Cheviot Learning Trust academy chain, which runs the school, said the completion of tests was "imminent", adding: "We will then be able to update on how the building can be repaired."
It said it would then allow plans to be formulated for September and beyond.
The government said it hoped to return pupils to the site as soon as possible.
A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: "We have worked closely with Prudhoe Community High School and the Cheviot Learning Trust to return students to face-to-face learning at the earliest opportunity.
"We are continuing to work with the school and the trust in next steps."
Wait 'too long'
Prudhoe Community High School cost £14.6m under the previous Conservative government's priority school building programme (PSBP).
Tory councillor Guy Renner-Thompson, cabinet member for education at Northumberland County Council, said the DfE "needs to release the detailed report on the condition of the building" as soon as possible.
"The school building is still under warranty. It shouldn't cost the taxpayer anything to put right," he said.
"Parents and the council have waited too long for further information about the school."
Renner-Thompson also said he continued to believe a site formerly used as Hexham Middle School was a more suitable solution than sending children to Washington and back on buses each day.
The council has said it offered the building to the DfE as an alternative but was turned down.
The middle school on Wanless Lane closed in 2021. It is 10 miles (16kms) from Prudhoe and benefits from existing transport links, according to Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The DfS has not commented on reports it was offered the site.