Written Question·Department for Education·UIN 110368

Special Educational Needs: Costs

Tabled: 3 February 2026

Answered: 4 March 2026

Question

Esther McVey

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) methodology and (b) data the Department uses to (i) calculate and (ii) compare the average cost of maintained special school placements and independent school placements.

Answer

Georgia Gould

For maintained special schools and special academies, the department uses local authorities’ actual expenditure on high needs top-up funding, to which is added the £10,000 per place funding using pupil numbers from the January school census, divided by th...

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