The location of 16 planned special free schools and the academy trusts chosen to run seven others already in the pipeline have been announced by the Department for Education today.
It comes after chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in the Spring Budget that £105 million would be spent over four years creating the schools.
Earlier this year education secretary Gillian Keegan admitted that the government “haven’t built enough special educational needs places or schools”.
A competition for academy trusts to apply to run the 16 schools will be launched on Monday next week. This process will also include two other planned special free schools in Cheshire East and the Isle of Wight that were previously approved but where a sponsoring trust has not yet been found, the DfE said.
SEND support: New special free schools
The DfE said the new special free schools will be built in the following locations:
- Nottinghamshire
- Lincolnshire
- Newham
- Enfield
- Harrow
- Bury
- Westmorland and Furness
- Hampshire
- Surrey
- Buckinghamshire
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Herefordshire
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Walsall
- Solihull
- East Riding of Yorkshire
The DfE has also announced the trusts chosen to run seven other special free schools in Merton, Cambridgeshire, Kent and Norfolk, which it said will create more than 1,000 places once opened.
These are:
- Meridian Trust in Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire
- Lime Academy Trust in March, Cambridgeshire
- Fortis Trust in Whitstable, Kent
- Leigh Academies Trust in Swanley, Kent
- Orchard Hill College and Academy Trust in Merton
- Eastern Learning Alliance in Downham Market, Norfolk
- Unity Schools Partnership in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
All seven of these are in areas with Safety Valve deals in place between the councils and the DfE aimed at helping the local authorities to reduce large deficits built up due to high-needs spending, in return for them making reforms to their provision for pupils with SEND.
Ms Keegan said the new schools will take the government ”one step closer to our commitment of a record 60,000 more places for children with additional needs”.
“The creation of more brilliant special schools is just one part of our plan to make sure every family and every child get the right support, in the right place at the right time,” she added.
The most recent government figures show that around two-thirds of special schools were at or over capacity in the past academic year.
The government has said it also plans to introduce “quality assurance frameworks” for unregistered alternative provision (AP) settings, and has launched an eight-week consultation on its proposals today.
The consultation reveals proposals to use registered AP settings as “an intervention, not a destination” to sit alongside education provided in school.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that the investment in new special schools is “very welcome” but added that the union is “worried it is too little too late”.
“Government figures show that around two-thirds of special schools are at or over capacity, but these new special schools are unlikely to be up and running for several years....[but the] pressure on places is happening right now,” he said.
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