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
| Current project name | School type | Council | Trust name | Decision |
| Delta Barnsley AP Free School | FS – AP | Barnsley | Delta Academies Trust | Alternative funding |
| Sulis Academy | FS – AP | Bath and North East Somerset | Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership | Build school |
| Green Ways Academy | FS – Special | Bath and North East Somerset | Three Ways School | Build school |
| Frankley Hill School | FS – Special | Birmingham | Open Thinking Partnership | Build school |
| Springwell Birmingham | FS – Special | Birmingham | Wellspring Academy Trust | Build school |
| Thrive Learning Partnership | FS – Special | Blackpool | The Sea View Trust | Build school |
| Mansfield Health Academy | FS – AP | Blackpool | The Sea View Trust | Build school |
| Forest View School | FS – Special | Bracknell Forest | The Propeller Academy Trust | Build school |
| Bristol Specialist Provision | FS – Special | Bristol | Enable Trust | Build school |
| Redwood Academy | FS – Special | Bromley | Riverbed Inclusive Trust | Alternative funding |
| Delta Calderdale AP Free School | FS – AP | Calderdale | Delta Academies Trust | LA did not respond |
| Lime Academy March | FS – Special | Cambridgeshire | Lime Trust | Build school |
| Greensand Academy | FS – Special | Cambridgeshire | Meridian Trust | Build school |
| Biggleswade SEMH Academy | FS – Special | Central Bedfordshire | Oak Bank School | Alternative funding |
| The Engage Academy | FS – AP | Cheshire East | Youth Engagement Schools Trust | Alternative funding |
| Cumberland Alternative Provision | FS – AP | Cumberland | Cumbria Education Trust | LA did not respond |
| The Garden Village School | FS – Special | Darlington | The Education Village Academy Trust | Build school |
| ACE Cranbrook | FS – Special | Devon | Transforming Futures Multi Academy Trust Limited | LA did not respond |
| Osprey Quay Special School | FS – Special | Dorset | Southern Education Trust | Build school |
| The North Star School | FS – Special | East Riding of Yorkshire | The Education Alliance | Build school |
| Turning Point | FS – AP | East Riding of Yorkshire | The Constellation Trust | Build school |
| The Meadow | FS – Special | Enfield | Search Education Trust | Build school |
| Hillingdon Special Free School | FS – Special | Hillingdon | The Eden Academy | LA did not respond |
| Wings Academy | FS – Special | Hounslow | Orchard Hill College Academy Trust | Alternative funding |
| Whitstable Special School | FS – Special | Kent | Fortis Trust | Build school |
| Leigh Academy Birchwood | FS – Special | Kent | Leigh Academies Trust | Build school |
| Jude’s Academy | FS – AP | Kent | Alternative Learning Trust | Build school |
| Delta Kirklees AP Free school | FS – AP | Kirklees | Delta Academies Trust | Build school |
| Aspire Academy | FS – Special | Leeds | Ethos Academy Trust | No decision yet |
| Achieve Academy | FS – Special | Leicestershire | Macintyre Academies | Alternative Funding |
| Fairfax Primary Academy | FS – Special | Middlesborough | Horizons Specialist Academy Trust | LA did not respond |
| Unity School Great Yarmouth | FS – Special | Norfolk | Unity Schools Partnership | Build school |
| The Ryston School | FS – Special | Norfolk | Eastern Learning Alliance | Build school |
| Springwell Grimsby | FS – Special | North East Lincolnshire | Wellspring Academy Trust | Build school |
| Springwell Northallerton | FS – Special | North Yorkshire | Wellspring Academy Trust | Build school |
| Bowden Academy | FS – AP | Nottingham | Raleigh Education Trust | Build school |
| River Tees Academy Redcar and Cleveland | FS – AP | Redcar and Cleveland | River Tees Multi-Academy Trust | Alternative funding |
| Co-op Academy Salford | FS – Special | Salford | The Co-operative Academy Trust | Build school |
| Inspire Academy | FS – Special | Sheffield | Ethos Academy Trust | Alternative funding |
| Minerva AP Free School | FS – AP | Sheffield | Minerva Learning Trust | Alternative funding |
| North Star Wells | FS – Special | Somerset | North Star Academy Trust | Build school |
| South Tyneside Special Free School | FS – Special | South Tyneside | PROSPER Learning Trust | Alternative funding |
| The Link Academy | FS – AP | Stoke-on-Trent | Youth Engagement Schools Trust | Alternative funding |
| Delta Stockton AP Free School | FS – AP | Stockton-on-Tees | Delta Academies Trust | LA not responded |
| Unity SLD School | FS – Special | Suffolk | Unity Schools Partnership | Build school |
| EEGT Suffolk AP Free school | FS – AP | Suffolk | Eastern Education Group Trust | Build school |
| Frimley Oak Academy | FS – Special | Surrey | London South East Academies Trust | Build school |
| Betchwood Vale Academy | FS – Special | Surrey | The Howard Partnership Trust | Build school |
| Olive AP Academy – Tilbury | FS – AP | Thurrock | Olive Academies | Build school |
| Mulberry Learning Village | FS – AP | Tower Hamlets | Mulberry Schools Trust | LA not responded |
| Kithurst Academy | FS – AP | West Sussex | The Beckmead Trust | Alternative funding |
| Beckmead Wealden Academy | FS – Special | West Sussex | The Beckmead Trust | Alternative funding |
| Impact Academy Wigan | FS – AP | Wigan | The Bolton Impact Trust | Build school |
| Bitham Park School | FS – Special | Wiltshire | Brunel Academies Trust | Build school |
| Alternative Free School for Wiltshire | FS – AP | Wiltshire | REAch South Academy Trust | Alternative funding |
| Chiltern Way Academy Windsor and Maidenhead | FS – Special | Windsor and Maindenhead | Chiltern Way Academy Trust | Alternative funding |
| Rooks Nest School | FS – Special | Wokingham | Ascendancy Partnership Trust | Alternative funding |
| Strawberry Fields School | FS – Special | Wokingham | Ascendancy Partnership Trust | Alternative funding |
| Enterprise Academy | FS – Special | Worcestershire | Macintyre Academies | Build school |
