Children with SEND will benefit from a brilliant education close to home as the government announces at least £3 billion to create tens of thousands of new specialist places in mainstream schools.
The Education Secretary has today announced a transformational expansion of specialist, calm learning spaces in mainstream schools, equipped with facilities to support children with special educational needs and disabilities, following the launch of the largest national conversation on SEND in a generation.
It will mean young people won’t have to travel miles from home to have their needs met, and can instead get support in tailor-made spaces with the right facilities while also mixing with other classes for subjects or parts of the day that are appropriate for them.
For too long, children with SEND have been forgotten, with families forced to fight for the support they deserve and a school place that meets their needs. At least 180,000 pupils with SEND currently receive transport to school – journeys that for many are longer than three miles, and for nine per cent are in single occupancy vehicles such as taxis.
In addition, the government has confirmed it will deliver on all 10,000 places – in all areas – due to be created by planned special free schools. It will do this either by building the planned schools, or by giving local authorities the funding to create the equivalent number of specialist places themselves – often more quickly than through free school projects. This is on top of the tens of thousands of places created through the new £3 billion investment.
Today’s announcement will lay the groundwork for significant future reform of the SEND support system – helping to make schools inclusive by design, so every child, in every corner of the country can have their needs met where they live. We will set out more details in the Schools White Paper and subsequent allocation of funding on how this investment will support pupils in mainstream settings, as well as how we will ensure specialist places in mainstream become a core part of the local school offer in all parts of the country.
Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said
A child’s background should not determine where they end up. Education is the route to opportunity, and opportunity should be for every child, regardless of their individual needs and circumstances.
For too many families, the reality has been very different, but this government will fix the broken education system for children and young people with SEND by making sure that their local school is also the right school. Ahead our reforms next year, we’re laying the foundations of a new system that shifts children with SEND from forgotten to included and earns the confidence of parents.
This £3 billion investment will transform lives. It will open the door to opportunity for tens of thousands of children with SEND, giving them the chance to learn, belong and succeed in their local community. This is how we build an education system that works for every child.
Today’s cash boost – which will see 2026-27 allocations issued in Spring – builds on the £740 million already invested to create over 10,000 specialist places.
It will help create calming spaces, supporting children with needs such as autism or ADHD who may feel overstimulated by busy school environments, as well as breakout spaces for children who need more support – giving children the helping hand they need to access mainstream education.
Anna Heaton, Executive Principal and Trust Lead for Secondary SEND & Inclusion
At Delta Academies Trust, inclusion means doing all we can to break down barriers to learning, enabling all our learners to participate and achieve together.
Our resourced provision units provide a bridge back to learning for our most vulnerable learners and help us ensure pupils access the support they need to fulfil their potential. This results in greatly improved attendance and engagement in learning, but the benefits for our pupils and their families go far beyond this in terms of improving mental health and wellbeing.
One family told us that the resourced provision unit had transformed their child from one who didn’t want to do anything and couldn’t see a future, into someone who wants to learn and wants to talk about what they will do next.
The government is also today confirming the outcome of its review of mainstream free schools. To prioritise the investment in specialist places being announced today, a number of mainstream free school projects will not go ahead, reflecting the government’s commitment to putting school places where they’re needed most, now and in the future.
The number of primary school pupils has been falling since 2019, with the number of secondary school pupils due to begin falling from next year. Meanwhile, the number of young people with SEND has risen to at least 1.7 million – an increase of 400,000 pupils since 2020.
Those projects that will continue are those that meet the needs of communities, responding to demographic and housing demand without creating surplus places. New schools that provide a unique offer for students who would otherwise not get it, without damaging the viability of existing local schools and colleges, will also be supported.
The capital investment is part of the government’s £38 billion investment in the education estate from 2025-26 to 2029-30, which also includes funding for the expansion of the School Rebuilding Programme – driving up the standards of classrooms across the country. The government has confirmed today that applications for the further 250 rebuilding projects will open in the new year and that those schools with the most severe need will be prioritised to ensure every child can achieve and thrive.
Today’s announcement is a pivotal step to improving the life chances of children with SEND across the country, but the work will not, and cannot, stop here.
Full plans to improve the SEND system will be set out through the Schools White Paper early in the new year.