(UK) Notts: 400% increase in children accessing SPED; $48M overspend forecast
- The end of childhood
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Jan 1, 2026, Nottingham Post: Referrals for youngsters with SEND booms by nearly 400 per cent amid 'constant battle' for support
The number of new referrals for young people with special educational needs (SEND) to access alternative education has risen by almost 400 per cent - with one parent saying it's "constant battle" to get any form of support.
The striking figures, showing a “fundamental shift” in demand for children and young people accessing Alternative Provision arrangements outside of ‘mainstream’ education, were presented to Nottinghamshire County Council members in a December cabinet meeting.
Alternative Provision refers to education arranged by local authorities outside of the mainstream school setting due to a child being unwell, excluded, having behavioural issues or other needs.
It can be provided in mainstream schools, non-school settings, online and at home.
These arrangements are not just exclusive to young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – legal documents detailing the required support for a young person with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) – but are a common option for children with SEND.
Since 2022, the total number of new referrals for young people with an EHCP to access Alternative Provision has increased by 381 per cent.
For 2022 to 2023, the figure for these new referrals stood at 90, increasing to 191 in 2023 to 2024, 341 for 2024 to 2025 and sits at 433 in the council’s most up-to-date data running from April 1, 2025, until September 8, 2025 – and the current financial year has not yet finished.
For children and young people without an EHCP, the total number of Alternative Provision placements commissioned for students has more than doubled. In 2021 to 2022 there were 302, rising to 705 in 2024 to 2025, following a small decline from 754 in 2023 to 2024.
The authority’s most recent data as at October 27, 2025, shows that 73 per cent of the 906 young people with Alternative Provision and being educated other than at school, including those with SEND, have so in an ‘unregistered’ setting, meaning not subject to Ofsted inspections.
Nottinghamshire mum, Jess, said her nine-year-old son is currently only receiving two hours of online Alternative Provision a week through the ‘MindJam’ mentoring and gaming platform and will be starting children’s sensory therapy sessions soon which will include English.
Her son has autism and has been out of school from October 2025 due to him entering burnout from the mainstream school setting.
The mum says her son is on the wait list for a Forest School and will potentially access school via a robot from January, where he will be able to communicate and talk through this and have a tablet for his education.
She said she is “not satisfied” with the level of her son’s current Alternative Provision, saying: “Anyone dealing with the EHCP process aren’t feeling like we’re getting any support, it’s a constant fight, a constant battle.
“Alternative Provision is not an education. The alternative of someone who can’t access mainstream school is a specialist school.
“It’s like children aren’t fitting in that box, so the council put them in this box – are these kids getting the right attention?
“It’s only two hours a week. He’s missing socialisation, any sort of light-hearted conversation. He will tick a box as a criteria for accessing Alternative Provision but that can look different for each kid.”
Jess’ son’s EHCP took almost 60 weeks to be agreed – over the 20-week target date.
She says if this was completed per the timescale her son may have avoided burnout in his mainstream school, had his needs addressed sooner and his grades would not have slipped.
The council has worked to improve its EHCP process. Figures from October, based on September 2025 data, showed 47.3 percent of EHCPs were completed within the 20-week statutory timescale, compared to 28 percent in 2023 and just 4.5 percent of new EHCPs issued within 20 weeks during 2022.
This improvement was driven by changes within the structures of parts of the SEND service and recruiting and retaining more educational psychologists.
The clear rise in demand for Alternative Provision is not the only increase. The total spend for it rose from £2,578,399 [3,478,000] in 2022/23 to £7,567,007 [$10M] in 2024/25 for those with an EHCP.
The provision for those without an EHCP cost £2,739,303 [$3,700,000] in 2022/23 and rose to £8,434,116 [$11M] in 2024/25.
Alternative Provision placements are funded from the council’s High Needs Block and documents show the yearly spend for it may increase from £16 million to £20 million going forward.
In light of the pot of funding, the council is currently forecast to overspend by £35.9 million [$48M] in 2025/26 but the authority currently has a ‘statutory override’ which ends in March 2028. This override allows councils, temporarily, to not have to address large financial deficits when balancing their budgets.
Speaking in December’s cabinet meeting, Conservative councillor, Sue Saddington, said the cost of the provision rising to a potential £20 million a year was “not an incremental growth” but a “fundamental shift in demand”.
She said: “History shows that once councils enter the [statutory] override, getting out is extremely difficult – we cannot assume it will simply resolve itself.
“The Reform administration has suggested it intends to make around £3 million of savings from this department – the two positions cannot both be true.
“If demand is rising and overspends are forecast to grow, residents deserve a clear and honest explanation of how £3 million[$4M] of savings can be delivered without reducing provision.”
The cabinet agreed on the recommissioning of Alternative Provision services in the December meeting to help respond to the “upward trend” in young people accessing it and to address challenges within the existing alternative provisions. This is set to launch for September 2026.
Cllr Hana John, cabinet member for education and SEND, said in the meeting providers had found the old process “too bureaucratic”, where the a “blended” approach will soon take place for commissioning specialist education.
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