(UK) Leics: Council ok's plans for $40M special school; 415 students currently waiting for a place

June 4, 2026, BBC News: New Leicestershire £30m SEND school could open in 2028

A new specialist school in Leicestershire could open as soon as 2028, council officials have said.

Leicestershire County Council announced plans to build a new £30m [$40M] special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) school on land in Husbands Bosworth, just off Kilworth Road, last week.

The authority said it hoped the site, which could cater for more than 250 children, would help provide "essential" placements for children.

Assistant director of education, inclusion and additional needs at Leicestershire County Council, Tim Browne, said the school would help address a "shortfall" in SEND places in Harborough.

Browne confirmed there are currently 415 children waiting for specialist school placements in Leicestershire, and the new school "would go a long way" to helping plug the gap. . . .

"We've got a rise in demand for special needs places that's national and that's also reflected locally," Browne said. . . .

This is because independent specialist placements for SEND children cost Leicestershire County Council nearly £70,000 [$93K] a year, whereas specialist schools maintained and run by the county council cost between £23,000 [$31K] and £30,000 [$40K], he said. . . .