(UK) Leics: Boy with ASD/ADHD without school place; "primary school no longer able to meet his needs"
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
A Leicestershire boy faces potentially another year without formal education after reportedly being "barred" from the school place of his choice over cost issues.
Six-year-old Felix Nienartowicz has a diagnosis of ADHD Combined Type and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and has been out of formal education due to his mainstream primary school no longer being able to meet his needs since September 2025.
Felix's mum Melanie Nienartowicz said the Special Educational Needs Assessment (SENA) team at Leicestershire County Council (LCC) currently pay for a private tutor to help support him for three hours a week.
However, the council does not provide any further education for Felix, who has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), and efforts to find him a suitable school place have been ongoing for some time.
Ms Nienartowicz, who is from Cosby, which is south of Leicester, said: "In the past eight months, we've been trying to work with the SENA team to find Felix a placement in a special school, something their own panel of experts agreed is needed to meet Felix's needs."
In that time, Ms Nienartowicz said they have visited a number of special schools in the area and have found an independent school that is close to home and suits her son's needs, Meadow View Farm School in Barwell..
The parents said the school has told them they have the capacity to meet need and could offer Felix a place starting in the Autumn term.
However, Felix might not be able to attend the school, as the SENA assessment team has reportedly declined the request for cost reasons.
They said there was also a need to consult with all other local authority schools in Leicestershire to see if any of those would be a more cost-effective option instead.
This process started in February and as of mid-April, Ms Nienartowicz said more than 10 local authority schools either could not meet need or had no space available to take on Felix.
This, she believed, would then result in SENA and LCC accepting Meadow View's offer, but they have not and are instead wanting to consult with and seek costings from all the independently funded special schools in the area.
Ms Nienartowicz said she is concerned this will mean Felix will lose Meadow View's place offering and is also worried this could ultimately mean Felix misses out on another year of education until autumn 2027.
She said the family cannot understand why, when she has found a school place for Felix that meets his needs and no other places are available, they are not being allowed to accept it.
She said: "We've met with staff from Meadow View, who discussed how they could support Felix and the types of therapies they could offer that we've been unable to access through NHS routes, so of course we were delighted when the school said they had the capacity and the resources to meet need and could offer Felix a place to start with them in the autumn term this year.
"Both myself and Felix's dad have worked all our adult lives to pay into a system that is supposed to support us in our hour of need and we now feel completely let down by a system that seems to be a law unto itself.
"Ultimately we just cannot understand why, when we have a school place for Felix that meets his needs and no other places are available, we're being barred from taking it and he's effectively being barred from an education."
Leicestershire County Council says it acknowledges the ongoing situation had presented "difficulties" for Felix and its parents, but was trying to find an "appropriate" school place for him.
A spokesperson said: "We do acknowledge the difficulties that this situation presents the family, and we are continuing to work hard to find an appropriate placement. Whilst we look for a school place, we will ensure that alternative education provision is provided for an appropriate number of hours per week.
"Across the country there is a national shortage of specialist school places, with demand rising faster than capacity. We are working to continue to create new spaces in line with our Special School sufficiency strategy."
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