Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the investment will underpin major SEND reforms and ensure more children can have their needs met close to home.
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The funding will support the creation of new “specialist, calm learning spaces” within mainstream settings, equipped to assist pupils with needs such as autism and ADHD.
The Department for Education said the expansion will allow children to receive support in tailored environments while still joining other classes when appropriate.
Phillipson added: “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.”
Many families have struggled to secure suitable local places, with 180,000 pupils currently travelling to school via arranged transport, often over long distances, costing councils £1.5bn in 2023/24, more than double what it was in 2015/16.
It will “shift children with SEND from forgotten to included”, said the DfE.
Phillipson added: “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.”
The announcement confirms all 10,000 planned places from special free school projects will go ahead, either through constructing the schools or by giving councils equivalent funding to deliver places more quickly. It builds on £740 million already committed to creating over 10,000 specialist places.
Anna Heaton, executive principal and trust lead for secondary SEND and inclusion at Delta Academies Trust, welcomed the approach. She said: “Inclusion means doing all we can to break down barriers to learning, enabling all our learners to participate and achieve together.” She added that resourced provision has “greatly improved attendance and engagement”, with one family telling the trust the support had “transformed their child”.
The Local Government Association also backed the move. Cllr Amanda Hopgood said it is “vitally important that inclusion is at the heart of reforming the SEND system,” adding: “We are also pleased government has confirmed special schools will be funded or councils will be given money to develop their own provision.”
Children’s charities also welcomed the announcement.
Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of Ambitious about Autism, said: “Too many autistic young people and parents face a postcode lottery when trying to access support that is right for them. 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. This includes resource bases and specialist settings which all have a vital role to play in delivering excellent education.”
Jane Harris, Speech and Language UK’s chief executive, said: “We support the plan for more children to be able to get specialist help in mainstream schools by creating resourced provisions. 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. Success relies on specialist teachers working alongside speech and language therapists every single day. There must be a properly adapted curriculum and continuous support through transitions to different key stages.”
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “Funding 50,000 new places in mainstream and specialist settings will address desperate shortfalls and bottle necks. It is sensible to create specialist places within reach of more families, to reduce travel times and ensure children with SEN can have a place in the right setting for them. Currently children with SEN are having to travel far too great a distance each day, many aren’t in the right setting and this puts pressure on the education workforce.”
Further details of the government’s SEND plans will be set out in the Schools White Paper early next year.
Source: CYP Now
