Department for Education's response to Sutton Trust's SEND press
notice.
A Department for Education spokesperson said:
“Every child deserves a brilliant education, and schools should
serve their communities, not select from them. It is completely
unacceptable that disadvantaged children or those with SEND are
being shut out or discouraged from applying – and this government
will put a stop to it.
“We are backing this with £3.7 billion to create more specialist
places, inclusion bases in every secondary school, and stronger
accountability – clamping down on off-rolling, tightening
oversight of pupil movement, and working with Ofsted to ensure
schools are held to account.”
For background
On SEND provision:
- Demand for specialist provision is rising, showing exactly
why reform of the system is so urgent.
- Special schools will always have a vital role for children
with the most complex needs, but we know that most children
thrive when supported closer to home alongside their peers, and
that earlier, group-based intervention in mainstream settings can
prevent needs escalating.
- The three-tier model, Individual Support Plans, and
fast-track assessment for under-5s with complex needs are all
part of our SEND reforms to get earlier support to more children
in mainstream settings.
- Our £3.7 billion investment comes alongside £1.8 billion so
every community has specialists on hand, £1.6 billion going
directly to schools for early intervention, £200 million to train
every teacher, and £3.5 billion in additional high needs funding
on top of Autumn Budget.
- The £740 million High Needs Provision Capital allocation,
published March 2025, is already funding classroom adaptations,
specialist facilities in mainstream schools, and special school
capacity.
- To ensure that schools are utilising their overall SEND
funding allocation to meaningfully and effectively embed
inclusive practice, they will be required to report on the
activities and approaches undertaken to alleviate barriers to
learning in their cohort in the form of an Inclusion Strategy.
On surplus places:
- We recognise the pressures caused by demographic changes
which some schools across the country are facing.
- Primary Unfilled places have gone up nationally, reflecting a
falling national birthrates trend.
- Despite deeply challenging choices about public spending, we
are backing schools with record investment – funding is
increasing by £4.2 billion by 2028-29, taking per-pupil funding
to its highest ever level and helping transform the SEND system
so every child can achieve and thrive.
- Local authorities, academy trusts, and partners are expected
to manage their estates efficiently.
- Spare mainstream space should be repurposed for nurseries and
inclusion bases.
- To support strategic planning at a local level, we will work
with the sector to develop a decision-making framework for the
use of mainstream school space through demographic change, with
publication expected in Autumn 2026.
- This will ensure that we are balancing the opportunities
created by the current fall in birth rates – including
repurposing space to deliver more SEND provision, school-based
nurseries and Best Start Family Hubs.
- The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill contains a measure
which will enable the independent Schools Adjudicator to specify
the published admission number (PAN) of a school, where
they have upheld an objection to it. We know that numbers of
pupils at primary schools have been declining since 2018/19, with
that decline set to feed into the secondary phase. This measure,
along with changes to regulations, will provide a clear framework
to ensure that a school's published admission number (the number
of children they admit) works in the best interests of the local
community, and that all local children have access to an
education where they can achieve and thrive.
On overall capacity:
- There has been a net increase of 65,000 places in the last
year. The proportion of primary schools at or over capacity has
fallen from 23% in 2016/17 to 14% today; and secondary
overcapacity has also fallen from 24% to 19% since 2023/24.
- This partly reflects sustained government capital investment
and local authority planning working as intended.
- We are providing over £2.5bn to support local authorities to
create mainstream school places needed between May 2024 and
September 2028.
