Four new SEND schools to be built in West Midlands
They will provide places for 600 children with special educational needs and disabilities.
New schools providing support for nearly 600 children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are to open in four areas in the West Midlands.
The schools in Herefordshire, Stoke on Trent, Walsall and Solihull will provide specialist spaces for pupils whose needs cannot be met in mainstream education.
It comes after the Chancellor announced in his spring Budget that £105 million would be invested over the next four years to build new special schools across England.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “Special schools can truly transform children’s lives, enabling pupils with special education needs and disabilities to thrive in environments that meet their needs.
“We’re creating tens of thousands of special school places since 2010 and today’s announcement takes us one step closer to our commitment of a record 60,000 more places for children with additional needs.
“I know how hard it can be for families trying to navigate the SEND system, and the creation of more brilliant special schools is just one part of our plan to make sure every family and every child get the right support, in the right place at the right time.”
"Too little, too late"
But Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the union was worried the investment was "too little too late".
Government data published in March found that around two in three special schools in England were at or over capacity in the last academic year.
There were approximately 4,000 more pupils on roll in special schools than the reported capacity, according to DfE data.
Mr Di'Iasio said: "Government figures show that around two-thirds of special schools are at or over capacity, but these new special schools are unlikely to be up and running for several years.
"The pressure on places is happening right now and the lack of capacity in the system is the result of the Government's underinvestment in schools over the past 14 years.
"This is compounded by an absolute crisis in the special educational needs system in general with the level of need far outstripping the funding and specialist support that is available."
He added that the Chancellor's announcement of new special schools in his Budget in March did "nothing to address the wider issue of the strain on special educational needs provision".
A competition for academy trusts to run the new special schools will be launched in the coming days.