(UK) $4B to create 50,000 MORE SPED PLACES
- The end of childhood
- 16 hours ago
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Dec 12, 2025, The Herald: £3bn [$4B] 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 [$4B] 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.
Around 50,000
The number of places for children with Send in schools the Government plans to create
Department for Education
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 [$4B] 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 [$800M], the Press Association understands. . . ..
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.
Schools will be able to use the funding to create things like breakout spaces for children who need more support (PA)
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 [$800M] savings from the cancelled free schools through the spending review period are expected to ease pressure on the DfE’s £38 billion [$51B] capital settlement up to 2029/30 to allow the £3 billion [$4B] 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 [$8B] 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. . . .
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