£3bn announced to create ‘tens of thousands’ of school places for Send pupils

Around 50,000 new school places will be created for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) from £3 billion funding, the Government has announced.

Some of the cash will go towards creating places across the country in local mainstream schools for children with Send so they are less likely to have to travel far for their education.

Schools will be able to use the capital funding to create things like breakout spaces for children who may need more support, or rooms to support children with autism or ADHD who may feel overstimulated in the classroom.

It comes after Government figures estimated local authorities are funding home to school transport for around 180,000 pupils with Send.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the Government will make sure local schools are the right schools for children and young people with Send.

“This £3 billion investment will transform lives,” she said. “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 Government has also announced it will likely cancel 28 out of 44 mainstream free school projects after a review was launched last year, which is expected to save around £600 million, the Press Association understands.

Those likely to be cancelled include one of three new sixth forms in disadvantaged areas proposed by Eton College and academy trust Star Academies. The sixth forms will go ahead in Dudley and Oldham, but not in Middlesbrough.

Eton headmaster Simon Henderson welcomed the confirmation that Oldham and Dudley will go ahead.

The free schools programme became a flagship Conservative education policy after its launch in 2010.

However, 10,000 already announced places in special free schools will go ahead in addition to the places announced on Thursday.

The Government will continue with 15 special and alternative provision schools that were already progressing. There were 77 more planned and some of these will be built. Those that are not will have places protected through additional funding for councils.

The £3 billion will be for up to 2029/30, the Press Association understands, with first allocations for 2026/27 issued in the spring.

The cash will be distributed to local authorities, who will then work with schools and academy trusts in their areas to understand needs, with more details expected to be set out in the Government’s delayed Send reforms next year.

The £600 million savings from the cancelled free schools through the spending review period are expected to ease pressure on the DfE’s £38 billion capital settlement up to 2029/30 to allow the £3 billion spending.

School leaders and local authorities welcomed the announcement.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union the NAHT, said it will help more children receive the education they need, but added the Government must ensure there are enough staff with the right training to work with children with Send.

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said more places “ought to reduce waiting lists that cause misery and deep anxiety for parents”.

Councils in England spent £415 million more than budgeted in 2023/24 on getting young people to school by bus, taxi or other transport methods, the National Audit Office has found, mostly due to transport needs for more children with Send.

As of 2024/25, more than 1.7 million pupils in England alone have Send, and the number of education, health and care plans increased by 166% between January 2015 and January 2025.

The Government announced in the Budget last month that local authorities will not be expected to fund future Send costs once a statutory override keeping deficits off their balance sheets expires at the end of 2027/28.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned this could result in a 4.9% fall in per pupil spending if the Government funded a £6 billion blackhole from the DfE’s core schools budget.

The Government has insisted deficits will be absorbed in the overall Government budget rather than from schools, and the OBR’s projections do not account for the Send reforms ministers are bringing forward.

The Conservatives accused the Government of “education vandalism” with the cancellation of some planned free schools.

Shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: “In Labour’s latest act of education vandalism they are taking away new schools which parents want. Free schools raise standards and outperform other state schools.

“And not content with that, the Government has halted shovel-ready, worked-up special schools, and replaced them with a smaller pot of money and no plan.”