(UK) Hants: 18,581 SPED students to double by 2030; cost more than double
- The end of childhood
- Aug 3
- 1 min read
SE England
Hampshire County Council’s annual spending topped £92.83m [$123M] in the year 2024/25
The cost of providing special educational needs places in private and specialist schools has more than doubled.
Hampshire County Council’s annual spending topped £92.83m in the year 2024/25, a freedom of information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service found.
This is a 120 per cent increase from the £42m [$56M] spending in 2021/22.
Councils across the country are lobbying government to reform the system and increase funding towards SEND.
Across the last four years Hampshire has paid out £257m, including £67.89m in 2023/24 and £54.39m in 2022/23.
The authority has been expanding its in-house provisions across schools it runs ins a bid to stop relying on private schools and specialist SEND school placements.
It has created 745 specialist places in its own specialist schools and mainstream schools in the last five years. This includes an extra 78 placements across six schools set to start in September.
The additional spaces are required to meet the growing demand for special education, which is driven by an increase in education, health, and care plans (EHCPs).
There are 18,581 children on EHCPs as of this year. This number is projected to double by 2030/31.
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