More than half of specialist free school projects set to go ahead

More than half of free specialist school projects put on hold by the government are set to go ahead, as councils turn down alternative funding offers.

Ministers gave town halls the choice to open 59 special or alternative provision schools or take a three-year, £50,000-per-pupil cash alternative to create new places in existing schools.

A further 18 special schools and 28 mainstream schools were cancelled altogether. 

Councils had until last Friday to submit their responses to the Department for Education.

Thirty-four schools have been green-lit by councils. A further 18 are in areas where councils decided to accept alternative funding.

One council, Leeds, said it had agreed a “short extension” to the response deadline with the DfE. A spokesperson did not say why or how much extra time they have.

For the remaining six schools, the councils refused to reveal their decision. See below for the full list.

‘Disappointed’

Broken down by school type, councils have decided to go ahead with 25 special schools. Eleven look set to be cancelled. The future of three schools is unknown.

There is potentially a more even split for AP. Nine are going ahead, seven will be cancelled and a decision about four schools is yet to be confirmed.

The Youth Engagement Trust was due to support Stoke-on-Trent and Cheshire East with two alternative provision schools.

Chief executive Nic Brindle said the organisation was “disappointed” the schools are not going ahead.

He believed the schools “would have made a significant difference both in meeting the needs of vulnerable students and in helping mainstream colleagues to develop more inclusive practice”.

But he “understood the rationale behind the decision” given the schools were due to open in September and there is “no clear guidance on revised delivery timescales”.

‘No further clarity’

Councils including Wokingham, Windsor and Maidenhead, Barnsley, Hounslow and Sheffield have opted to scrap the schools in return for expansion funding.

Many argued that cancelling projects will deliver SEN provision more quickly.

Windsor and Maidenhead council accepted £5.4 million funding, with council documents saying their planned 100-place school for pupils with SEMH would be “almost a decade later than originally anticipated”.

Wokingham Borough Council officers recommended two special schools be cancelled as the “DfE has provided no further clarity in relation to the delivery timetable”, which could have “substantial financial implications” on the council.

‘A false choice’

Other councils, including Enfield, Birmingham, Darlington, Kent, and Dorset have pressed on with special school projects.

Enfield council documents said it was going ahead with a 96-place school for children with complex and additional needs as “rejecting DfE delivery would mean forfeiting a significant investment and the provision of a modern, sustainably designed high-spec building”.

Meg Powell-Chandler, director of the New Schools Network, said: “Where projects have not been taken forward, many councils faced a false choice, with DfE delays meaning schools approved in 2024 would not open until the end of the decade. 

“Families and communities have waited long enough – the priority now must be getting these schools built and open quickly.”

The DfE declined to comment.

Full list of decisions so far