Plans approved to create more Send school places

The county council is planning to create a new Send unit at Thames Ditton Infant School

Up to 21 additional special educational needs and disabilities (Send) places will be created at an infant school in Surrey, according to plans approved by the county council.

Surrey County Council is planning to create a new Send unit at Thames Ditton Infant School which will create space for pupils with communication and interaction needs who require a specialist placement in a mainstream school.

The school is reducing its admission number from 90 to 60 students in September 2025, so the spare class created will be used for the Send unit.

However, the demand for Send support will still outweigh the level of provision in local schools in Elmbridge, according to a council report.

In the Elmbridge area, there are currently 24 Send places available out of a total of 82 needed for the 2024-25 school year.

The county council is hoping to more than double its existing provision to 54 Send places by 2032-33, but this does not meet the projected need of 77 pupils, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Claire Curran, the council's cabinet member for children, families and lifelong learning, said the new Send unit would allow more children to go to school closer to home so they would "stay connected to their communities".

State-maintained specialist school places could save about £30,000 per pupil place per year, according to the report.