HORSA

Government plans to increase the school leaving age resulted in the need to accommodate 168,000 additional pupils.

[1] Along with the need to replace buildings lost and damaged in World War II and the post-war baby boom, this contributed to massive demand for low cost prefabricated 'hut'-style classrooms and other school buildings.

[2][3] The programme was the responsibility of George Tomlinson, the Minister of Education in the post-war Clement Attlee government.

[5] HORSA huts were constructed of concrete and timber with corrugated asbestos-filled roofs, arrived onsite as flat pack deliveries and once assembled they resembled the spartan buildings used in army camps in the war.

[6] Although intended as temporary accommodation with an expected lifespan of only ten years,[7] 'Horsa huts' were often used well beyond this and some still survived as of 2012[update].