Councils to get £3bn for thousands more school spaces for Send pupils

The government has promised to create 50,000 more places for children with special educational needs (Send) in mainstream schools in England.

It plans to invest £3bn over the next three years, partly funded by cancelling the building of some planned free schools.

Councils - who will receive the funding - have argued the money needs to be diverted to the right areas and to the people who know what is needed in their local communities.

Nearly 1.7 million pupils receive support for special educational needs in schools in England, with the number rising every year.

Headteachers' unions have welcomed the plans.

However, the school leaders' union NAHT says investment in buildings is only one part of the picture, and that there would need to be sufficient teachers and leaders "with the right level of specialist training".

At Ninestiles, an academy in Birmingham, just under 50 students with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) - a legal document outlining the support that a young person is entitled to - spend around 70% of their time in mainstream lessons.

The rest of the time, they take part in bespoke lessons to support their needs, where they get access to specially-trained staff and a tailored curriculum.

Demand for these places is high and the government says the extra investment means councils would be able to meet local need faster.

But Principal Alex Hughes says "the devil will be in the detail" and in "what it translates to" for individual schools.

Student Brendan, 14, who attends Ninestiles has access to the full curriculum but also can attend the resource hub, where he is supported by teachers.

He has the "best of both worlds", according to his mum Laura Jerram who says the pastoral support he has received has been "the key to keeping him in the school".

But Brendan's journey to get to this point has been "really difficult".

He missed a lot of primary school before he came to Ninestiles and the process of getting an EHCP was "a horrible journey", Ms Jerram explains.

"It's a bit of a bun fight [to get an EHCP] and the most resourced families tend to come out on top, unfortunately.

"I feel that for Brendan, if he'd had support much earlier on, he may not have fallen out of education the way he did."

Jane Harris, chief executive of Speech and Language UK, welcomed the announcement - but warned this alone would not be enough to change the lives of children with Send-related speech and language challenges.

"For these new resourced provisions to truly transform children's education and future employment, they must be more than just rooms – they must be hubs of expertise," Harris said.

"Success relies on specialist teachers working alongside speech and language therapists every single day.

"The Send crisis can't be solved without the specialist staff needed to support the 30% of children with speech and language challenges."

Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of Ambitious about Autism, also said she was pleased to see the increased investment from the government, while highlighting the current "postcode lottery" many families face when trying to access support.

"It is vital that this investment enables local authorities to plan and provide a mix of provisions that support the broad and diverse needs of autistic young people," Lasota said.

Autism is currently the most common primary need for children with an EHCP in England.

Many parents are unhappy and frustrated with the way the system is currently working with the National Audit Office (NAO) warning that despite increased investment, outcomes for students have not improved.

The number of parents taking councils to court over issues with Send provision reached a record high in 2024-2025, figures by the Ministry of Justice revealed on Thursday.

There were 25,000 Send appeals, up 18% from the previous year, with most disagreements over the content of EHCPs.

The free schools which will not go ahead will now go through a consultation period.

Plans by Eton College to open selective sixth-form centres in Dudley and Oldham have been approved, but its Middlesbrough proposal is earmarked for cancellation.

Free schools are publicly funded but are privately run by academy trusts, universities, charities, or faith groups.

Additional reporting by Kate McGough and Hazel Shearing

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