Over two-thirds of special educational secondary schools are over capacity in 2023-2024 as the number of pupils looking for specialist SEN support continues to rise (25% over the past 12 months).

An estimated 1.7 million school-aged children have special educational needs and disabilities in England.

The government has said that the £740m of funding investment it announced in December will create 10,000 new school places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) within mainstream school and hope that will help plug “the significant gaps in provision”.

However the roll-out of these places could be uneven as many councils are working at a significant deficit after years of overspend on SEN school places.

The situation has been worsened by the additional of VAT to school fees that is forcing many parents to move back into the state sector with SEN children.