(UK) Liverpool: $49M for new special school for 250; "growing demand"

April 13, 2025, BBC News: New SEN school for 250 pupils planned in city

NW England

Almost £40m {$53M] is to be allocated to fund the construction of a brand new primary school in Liverpool to support children with special educational needs (SEN).

Pupils at the existing Princes School are spread across four sites which have been described as unsuitable and in "poor condition", including the main one in Toxteth.

Liverpool City Council's cabinet is to be asked to back the £37m [$49M] investment into the purpose-built facility for 250 pupils on long-derelict land off Princess Drive in West Derby.

More than 30 classrooms would be created on one level with hygiene rooms and hoist access, along with two hydrotherapy pools and rebound and multisensory rooms.

The city council said the current main locations for SEN pupils were "not suited to the complex needs of the pupils or the growing demand of the service needs to provide sufficient places within the city for pupils with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)".

Satellite sites

In Liverpool, pupils with an EHCP has risen by 50% in the four years since 2020, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. . . .

The funding is expected to be agreed when the cabinet meets on Tuesday.