Government unveils £3bn investment to end postcode lottery for children with SEND

• Government unveils new multibillion-pound investment, laying the foundation for significant SEND reforms and transforming the experiences of families across the country, to help drive forward national renewal.
• Around 50,000 specialist places to be created nationwide – acting on commitment to make sure more children with SEND can thrive alongside their friends at their local school and breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child to achieve.
• Local authorities to also receive additional per-pupil funding to deliver specialist places faster and more efficiently than through free school projects.

Children with SEND will benefit from a brilliant education close to home as the government announces at least £3 billion to create tens of thousands of new specialist places in mainstream schools.

The Education Secretary has today (12^th December) announced a transformational expansion of specialist, calm learning spaces in mainstream schools, equipped with facilities to support children with special educational needs and disabilities, following the launch of the largest national conversation on SEND in a generation.

It will mean young people won't have to travel miles from home to have their needs met, and can instead get support in tailor-made spaces with the right facilities while also mixing with other classes for subjects or parts of the day that are appropriate for them. 

For too long, children with SEND have been forgotten, with families forced to fight for the support they deserve and a school place that meets their needs. At least 180,000 pupils with SEND currently receive transport to school – journeys that for many are longer than three miles, and for nine per cent are in single occupancy vehicles such as taxis. 

In addition, the government has confirmed it will deliver on all 10,000 places – in all areas - due to be created by planned special free schools. It will do this either by building the planned schools, or by giving local authorities the funding to create the equivalent number of specialist places themselves – often more quickly than through free school projects.  This is on top of the tens of thousands of places created through the new £3 billion investment.

Today's announcement will lay the groundwork for significant future reform of the SEND support system – helping to make schools inclusive by design, so every child, in every corner of the country can have their needs met where they live.  We will set out more details in the Schools White Paper and subsequent allocation of funding on how this investment will support pupils in mainstream settings, as well as how we will ensure specialist places in mainstream become a core part of the local school offer in all parts of the country.  

Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said: 

“A child's background should not determine where they end up. Education is the route to opportunity, and opportunity should be for every child, regardless of their individual needs and circumstances.

“For too many families, the reality has been very different, but this government will fix the broken education system for children and young people with SEND by making sure that their local school is also the right school. Ahead our reforms next year, we're laying the foundations of a new system that shifts children with SEND from forgotten to included and earns the confidence of parents. 

"This £3 billion investment will transform lives. It will open the door to opportunity for tens of thousands of children with SEND, giving them the chance to learn, belong and succeed in their local community. This is how we build an education system that works for every child.” 

Today's cash boost – which will see 2026-27 allocations issued in Spring - builds on the £740 million already invested to create over 10,000 specialist places.  

It will help create calming spaces, supporting children with needs such as autism or ADHD who may feel overstimulated by busy school environments, as well as breakout spaces for children who need more support - giving children the helping hand they need to access mainstream education.  

Anna Heaton, Executive Principal and Trust Lead for Secondary SEND & Inclusion:  

“At Delta Academies Trust, inclusion means doing all we can to break down barriers to learning, enabling all our learners to participate and achieve together. 

“Our resourced provision units provide a bridge back to learning for our most vulnerable learners and help us ensure pupils access the support they need to fulfil their potential.  This results in greatly improved attendance and engagement in learning, but the benefits for our        pupils and their families go far beyond this in terms of improving mental health and wellbeing.   

“One family told us that the resourced provision unit had transformed their child from one who didn't want to do anything and couldn't see a future, into someone who wants to learn and wants to talk about what they will do next.”    

The government is also today confirming the outcome of its review of mainstream free schools. To prioritise the investment in specialist places being announced today, a number of mainstream free school projects will not go ahead, reflecting the government's commitment to putting school places where they're needed most, now and in the future.   

The number of primary school pupils has been falling since 2019, with the number of secondary school pupils due to begin falling from next year. Meanwhile, the number of young people with SEND has risen to at least 1.7 million - an increase of 400,000 pupils since 2020.  

Those projects that will continue are those that meet the needs of communities, responding to demographic and housing demand without creating surplus places. New schools that provide a unique offer for students who would otherwise not get it, without damaging the viability of existing local schools and colleges, will also be supported. 

The capital investment is part of the government's £38 billion investment in the education estate from 2025-26 to 2029-30, which also includes funding for the expansion of the School Rebuilding Programme – driving up the standards of classrooms across the country. The government has confirmed today that applications for the further 250 rebuilding projects will open in the new year and that those schools with the most severe need will be prioritised to ensure every child can achieve and thrive.  

Today's announcement is a pivotal step to improving the life chances of children with SEND across the country, but the work will not, and cannot, stop here.  

Full plans to improve the SEND system will be set out through the Schools White Paper early in the new year. 

ENDS

Notes to editors: 

• 15 special and AP free schools will continue working towards opening subject to all the usual pre-opening checks and milestones.  
• The remaining 77 special and AP free schools will either be completed or replaced with a per pupil investment for the council to use more flexibly and quickly to deliver the equivalent places.
• [16] mainstream pipeline free school projects will proceed, with [28] projects moving to the ‘minded to cancel' phase.  
• For projects where we have issued a minded to cancel letter, the relevant trust and local authority can submit further evidence as to why their project should continue. The trust/local authority may also decide to voluntarily withdraw their project. 

On SEND reform: 

• Last week, School Standards Minister Georgia Gould launched plans to create the biggest national conversation on SEND in a generation, through a series of in-person events taking place in every region, as well as online.  
• The public engagement campaign has kicked off in earnest, with events in Bristol, Skegness, Stanstead, Manchester and Reading – giving parents, teachers and councils the opportunity to share their views directly with the government ahead of the Schools White Paper.  
• And from next year, every Best Start Family Hub nationwide will benefit from a dedicated SEND lead, widening access to specialist services and enabling children to benefit from speech and language sessions or sensory stay and play. 

Additional case study: 

Sam Petchey, the Partnership Head of George White Junior School and Mousehold Infant and Nursery, said:   

“Inclusivity at George White emphasises the importance of teaching the individual child and this is not restricted by an EHCP or a diagnosis.   

“The inclusive curriculum at George White is designed to develop an understanding of the whole child and staff in the Specialist Resource Base (SRB) skilfully use this as a vehicle to introduce learning in different ways. The excellent practice of highly skilled staff in the SRB is modelled to all staff across the school and partnership and this up-skills staff at all levels and ensures that high quality adaptive teaching personalises learning for all.  

“There is no ‘lid' on the learning and success of a child attending George White SRB and a huge emphasis is placed on a child's readiness for learning in their next destination.”