Every child has a right to an education. Every child with SEND has a right to be educated within a mainstream school, and equally also have the right to be educated within an alternative, specialist school. However, for many children with SEND this right is not being enacted, because of a nation-wide crisis in the amount of specialist school places available. In a report published by several *BBC educational consultants this week (Dunkley et al., 2023), it was highlighted that 52% of state funded specialist schools are currently oversubscribed.

Last week, parents of children with SEND should have received notification from their local authority to inform them of their child’s school placement from September 2023. However, instead of receiving this notification, many parents were disappointed and left with a feeling of uncertainty as the allocation of specialist school places has been delayed. The reason for this delay is due to an unprecedented demand for specialist school places, with more children needing a place then are available.

As a parent myself of a child with SEND who is due to transition to primary school in September 2023, I received notification of this delay. In the letter I received from our local authority, it stated that it is taking longer than anticipated to allocate a place, caused by a high number of requests for specialist provision. Not only was I taken aback by receiving this notification instead of a named school placement for my daughter, which I was expecting, I was additionally disappointed in the language that was used throughout the letter. Within the letter it stated that “…negotiations with schools were ongoing…” in a bid to find a suitable school placement for my daughter.

Appropriate educational provision for children with SEND should be an expectation, not a negotiation. Furthermore, it should not be a closed ‘negotiation’ between the local authority and schools, without any further input from parents. I initially named a preferred school which I felt would best meet the needs of my daughter. I researched and visited different schools and made a decision based upon what I felt was the most suitable placement for her, in response to her education, health and care needs.

However, if parents are not going to be allocated their preferred choice, I strongly believe that they should be consulted in what alternative provision is being considered. When I questioned this issue with my local authority, I was simply informed that if I was not happy with the placement that my daughter will be allocated, then I can appeal the decision.

If parents were made part of the ‘negotiations’ process, it would significantly reduce the need to appeal a decision. It would additionally reduce any further delays in sharing information and  starting transition plans  between parents, professionals, and the school. Parents are constantly fighting to gain the appropriate level of educational support and provision for their children. The lack of communication and partnership with parents from local authorities is exacerbating this further.  

So, this leaves the question as to what the alternative is if specialist school placements are not available? Parents may potentially have to accept a placement at a mainstream school. Despite the predominant reason most parents apply for a specialist school placement being that they feel that a mainstream placement is not suitable for their child, they may not be left with any other choice. If a child is placed in a school which is not suitable for them, it can have a catastrophic, long lasting impact upon their learning and development. Within my daughter’s Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), it indicates that a mainstream school would not be suitable for her, as she becomes very distressed in busy and noisy environments. However, due to a significant lack of specialist schools, I am placed in a position where the only educational provision available for her may be one that is the least appropriate.

Furthermore, placing children with complex SEND needs in mainstream schools can increase the pressure on teachers to provide individual and substantially differentiated learning to an increasing number of children within their class. All of which they must often accomplish with inadequate resources and training. In some cases, this will require teachers to go beyond making reasonable adjustments, to ensure that for some children, their education, health, and care needs are met. If a mainstream school is oversubscribed, and children with EHCPs still require a place, the local authority can request that schools take on more children. This again can have a detrimental impact on children both with and without SEND, as the classroom sizes will continue to increase.

Furthermore, there are funding implications attached to schools accepting more children with SEND than their capacity. If a school accepts more children than they are commissioned to, even if it has been requested by the local authority to do so, it does not mean that they will be provided with high-needs funding for any additional children with SEND above their capacity. This financial ‘negotiation’ brings a further feeling of unease that children with SEND are being reduced to a business transaction within education. Their school placement is subject to how many places are available and what funding can be acquired to support the placement. It can be suggested that children are being placed in schools to suit the needs of the local authority, rather than the needs of the individual child.

As a parent and a professional, I struggle to accept that local authorities are working in the best interests of children with SEND. It appears that there are merely trying to ‘fit them in’ wherever there is space, with little consideration as to if it is the most suitable placement for them. With many of the challenges associated with accessing educational provision for children with SEND, much more funding and support needs to come from a national level. Children will continue to be born with and develop SEND, and therefore, the  need for specialist schools will continue to be in demand. A long overdue haul of specialist provision for children is needed to prevent the ever-increasing number of vulnerable children being let down by an educational system that is not fit for purpose and has not been for some time.

*The full BBC article can be found here: Overcrowded specialist schools: ‘We’re teaching in cupboards’ - BBC News