Third new special school on the horizon for Hampshire following Government announcement

The County Council is among 16 local authorities nationally to have successfully applied for a new school which, subject to further approvals, is set to provide 125 places for children from the ages of eight to 16 who have additional needs, and who require a specialist school placement.

Councillor Steve Forster, the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, said: “The County Council has a statutory duty to ensure all children can access high-quality education, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This is an area that has seen immense pressure over several years, with an increasing number of children requiring SEND provision. We remain committed to further developing this across the county to respond to growing demand, creating much needed additional SEND school places.

“We are delighted that our application for a new special school in Hampshire has been provisionally approved by the DfE and we will be working closely with the department to progress this through the next steps in the process, including determining a suitable location and timeframes.”

The newly announced school comes alongside the County Council’s plans for a further two special schools - one in Whiteley to be funded by the DfE and a second in Boorley Gardens, Eastleigh, which the County Council is funding as part of its Children’s Services Capital Programme. The DfE has appointed Solent Academies Trust as the academy sponsor for both schools.

A competition to find an appropriate academy sponsor for the third, newly announced special school will be launched in due course.

The DfE’s announcement forms part of the Government’s plans to deliver 60,000 more special school places nationally. Visit the Gov.uk website for full details of the DfE’s announcement.