Independent special schools will be subject to national price bands in a government clampdown on “spiralling” fees.
The Department for Education has also announced that private special schools will have to follow statutory special educational needs and disabilities standards to ensure they are providing “consistent” and “high-quality” support.
The move comes after Vlog revealed that some local authorities are set to spend up to 58 per cent more on private places this year.
The latest measures have been announced as the government prepares to launch its highly anticipated schools White Paper, which will set out its plans for SEND reform.
Limiting private special school costs
The national price bands will end what the DfE has tonight described as “unjustified fee variation for the same provision”, and will allow councils the confidence to challenge “poor value placements” and to “guarantee consistent results”.
Local authorities will also have a formal say on new or expanding independent provision.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “For too long families have faced a postcode lottery - fighting for support that depends on where they live, not what their child needs. That ends now.
“We’re cracking down on providers who put profit before children. New standards and proper oversight will ensure every independent special school placement delivers real outcomes for children - not unreasonable bills for local authorities.”
Councils welcome stricter measures
Demand for SEND support has risen sharply in recent years, driving an “overreliance” on “spiralling independent special school fees”, the DfE said.
Vlog covered these concerns last year, revealing that spending on independent schools for pupils with SEND was more than twice as high in 2023-24 than it was in 2020-21 in almost 30 different councils.
The general secretary of the country’s largest education union has also called for a profit cap for independent special schools, echoing demands from the Liberal Democrats.
Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association, welcomed the government’s latest proposals.
She said: “While in some cases an independent school can be the best place for a child to attend, it is wrong that when councils’ own costs are soaring, some providers are setting unreasonably high prices and making significant profits from state-funded placements.”
The Liberal Democrats have said that vulnerable children are being treated as “cash cows”, arguing that the SEND sector should be given legal protections.
The party is calling for the sector to be given critical national infrastructure status, which currently applies to services such as health, energy, transport, defence and water.
In an announcement on Friday morning, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said taxpayers’ money is being spent lining the pockets of private firms under the current system.
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