Council to spend £1.5m on SEND places at school

A council is set to spend £1.5m to expand the number of spaces for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) at a school.

As many as 20 new places will be created at the Ormiston NEW Academy by 2028, according to City of Wolverhampton Council.

The school in Marsh Lane, Fordhouses, had 20 SEND spaces created for the start of the new school year last year, with the number set to increase to 30 by 2027 and 40 by September 2028.

The authority said demand for specialist school places in the city had "risen significantly" in recent years.

The number of children with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) in Wolverhampton had risen from 2,199 in 2020 to 3,300 by the end of 2025, it added.

The £1.5m funding would include extending the school's existing SEND resource base and replacing its food technology room and performing arts facilities.

A food technology room and drama studio would also be built, alongside new and refurbished changing rooms.

The council said demand for SEND provision was "increasing faster than places can be implemented" and there was a "high dependence" on placing children in independent provision, both inside and outside of the city, to ensure individual needs could be met.

"This is at high cost to the local authority in both terms of cost per place per year and transport," the council's decision notice said.

"There is also a number of pupils that are placed in neighbouring authorities' specialist provision."

The council added it was also receiving increasing numbers of consultation requests from across the West Midlands authorities for places in the city's special schools.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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