Pupils at a North East secondary school have had their education disrupted for more than 11 weeks due to the concrete crisis but will receive no exam mitigation, according to an MP.

Mary Kelly Foy, MP for City of Durham, has slammed the Government for giving pupils at St Leonard’s Catholic School mitigating circumstances if a fire alarm went off in the exam room - but not for their education being derailed.

The vast majority of the school in Durham was closed due to the discovery of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in September. Face to face teaching for the school's 1,500 pupils did not return until October 30.

• Read more: Four women arrested after £2,000 in cash seized during drug raids in County Durham

• Keep up to date with all the latest local news from County Durham with our free newsletter

Students are currently being educated in the school’s repurposed sports hall, and at Ushaw College - a former seminary. It has been leased by the Department for Education until a "semi-permanent demountable" school is erected on the school's playing fields.

No specialist facilities means pupils are unable to undertake practical work in science, design and technology, music, PE and other subjects. The school also lacks any hot catering facilities - which is a particular concern for pupils who are eligible for free school meals.

In the House of Commons on Tuesday, Ms Foy called on Minister's to draw up a "one off dispensation" for pupils in years 11 and 13, stating: These disruptions are ongoing - there are no labs, no music rooms, and no workshops available.

"Instead, pupils are being taught in a noisy sports hall - and in classes up to 60. In addition, Ofqual have told me that they are - and I quote - ‘not in a position to agree to adaptations'.

"It’s clearly a nonsense that - on the one hand - pupils would be given mitigating circumstances if a fire alarm went off in the exam hall - but on the other hand, they’re denied exemptions - even though their schooling has been disrupted for over eleven weeks."

Schools Minister Damien Hinds MP responded: "Awarding organisations have discretion to grant extensions to deadlines for non-examination assessment or coursework, based on a school’s specific circumstances, and will offer as much flexibility as they can when considering such steps.”

Ms Foy also cited her concerns that the school had not been fully reimbursed for £450,000 of necessary costs accrued to return to face to face learning. She said this was despite Education Minister Baroness Barran assuring The Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, which runs the school, that all costs would be met.

The Labour MP also spoke at length about the lack of specialist facilities available to pupils. She pushed Mr Hinds to present a timescale for these facilities to be delivered for St Leonard's Catholic School.

Regarding funding challenges the Trust face, Minister Hinds stated he hoped to meet with Ms Foy next week, saying: "The Government are funding the emergency work needed to mitigate the presence of RAAC, and all reasonable requests for additional help with revenue costs are being approved. I note what the hon. Lady said about the timeliness of so doing."

Mr Hinds recognised RAAC had impacted many of St Leonard’s "specialist facilities" stating: "We continue to explore options for the delivery of those specialist places as soon as possible."

A Department For Education spokesperson said: "The safety of staff and pupils is paramount, and we have been working at pace with schools to identify RAAC and support them to minimise disruption – all pupils at St Leonard’s are now in face-to-face education.

"As with all schools affected by RAAC, we are taking every step possible to remove any obstacles to learning. We have worked with St Leonard’s on extra education support for their pupils and put the school in touch with other schools that can offer specialist facilities.

"We will remove RAAC from the school and college estate and ensure remediation work is carried out swiftly and with as little disruption as possible."

Nick Hurn OBE, CEO of the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, said St Leonard's Catholic School has had a "incredibly difficult" start to the year and feels how challenging the situation is everyday.

He said: "We cannot stress enough how incredibly difficult the start of this academic year has been for St Leonard’s Catholic School, Durham and Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, including all teachers, students, and their wider families. We fully understand and recognise how challenging the situation is, and indeed we feel it every day. We are incredibly grateful for the support Mary Foy MP and other local MPs have given the school and the Trust and we will continue to work closely with them."

Mr Hurn said they were continuing discussions with the relevant bodies to ensure their students are not disadvantaged through this unprecedented situation.

He said: "We are resolute in our request for students taking examinations at KS2, KS4 and KS5 to have appropriate levels of special consideration depending on how badly their studies or coursework have been affected. We have written to the exam boards alerting them to our situation and informing them that we will be submitting our case for our examination students in due course.

"In order to support our case, we have commissioned Professor Stephen Gorard and his team from Durham University to conduct an impact assessment into the effect that this disruption has had on our students and their exam prospects. When this research is completed, we will be submitting the report’s conclusions to the various regulatory bodies as part of our case for their consideration."