Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure budget constraints in academy schools do not disproportionately affect provisions for students with special educational needs.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

All schools are responsible for ensuring that they make the best use of their budgets to support all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs. The overall Core Schools Budget is rising by £2.3 billion to £63.9 billion in the 2025/26 financial year. Within that, the department is providing an increase of almost £1 billion for local authorities’ high needs budgets, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to £11.9 billion. Local authorities use their high needs budgets to support SEND provision for pupils in both mainstream and special schools, whether they are schools maintained by a local authority or academies.