WIREDGOV

Demand for specialist places has rocketed over the last decade.

Responding to the announcement of extra capital funding for special educational needs, Luke Sibieta, Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said:

"Demand for specialist places has rocketed over the last decade. This year, there are 180,000 children in state-funded special schools - up 60,000 since 2016. Even with this expansion, capacity in the state sector has struggled to keep pace with the growth in demand, with councils paying for nearly 40,000 children to access specialist places in the independent sector, often with very high costs per child. Expanding capacity within the state sector — whether through more special schools or additional specialist places in mainstream settings — could help ease pressure and reduce costs over time. On current trends, much of the government's planned 50,000 additional places will be needed to meet fast-rising demand - meaning that schools, councils and families may still feel the pinch of capacity constraints. Moreover, capital investment is only a first step; the government will also need a plan to staff and sustain these places in the long term.”