Special Needs Fees Cost £57,000 Per Pupil

Local authorities are obliged to provide specialist education – either locally or in the private sector – for children deemed to have “special educational needs” or SEN. But obtaining the required statement of SEN for their child can be a lengthy and exasperating process for parents.

Around 18 percent of all school pupils in England – 1.5 million children – were categorised as having some sort of SEN in 2005. But only 3 percent – 250,000 – had a statement of SEN and around a third of these were in specialist schools.

The Department for Education and Skills said local authority spending on private special schools was rising but not out of control.

“The year-on-year increase for spending on fees for these schools is down from 27.45 percent four years ago to 5.35 percent last year”, said a department spokeswoman. “The fees charged by these schools reflect the fact that the children need a high level of support, often with high staff-student ratios and 24-hour care.”

Many state special schools have closed under the government’s policy of “inclusion”, or educating SEN pupils at mainstream schools, a move that has attracted much criticism.

The opposition Conservatives say the number of special school places has fallen by 9,000 since Labour came to power in 1997. “Parents face anguish if they want their children to go to one of an ever-diminishing number of special schools,” said Conservative Education Spokesman David Willetts.