Thirty-seven special free schools to open

Thirty-seven special free schools and two alternative provision free schools have been given the green light, meaning 3,500 additional school places will be created for children with special educational needs or those facing additional challenges in mainstream education.

It follows a commitment from the Education Secretary Damian Hinds last December to give the green light to all high-quality special free school bids, giving an additional £250 million for local authorities for their high needs budget.

Competitions will now open in the 39 successful local authorities to find providers to run them, which include community groups, teachers, charities, existing education providers and other organisations - that will run them.

Of the 37 new special free schools three will be in the North East, providing over 200 places in total mostly for children with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH).

There will be six free schools in the North West, providing over 400 places including for children with SEMH, Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Severe Learning Difficulty (SLD) and speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN).

Five new schools will be in Yorkshire and the Humber, providing over 500 places including for children with SEMH, ASD, SLD, Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) and SLCN.

One school will be in the East Midlands, providing 50 places for children with SEMH; and four will be in the West Midlands, providing over 400 places including for children with SEMH, ASD and Multiple Learning Difficulties (MLD).

Four new free schools will be in the East of England, providing over 300 places including for children with SEMH, ASD and SLCN; and five schools in London will provide over 400 places including for children with SEMH, ASD and SLCN.

Three will be in the South East, providing over 300 places including for children with SEMH and ASD; and six will be in the South West, providing 500 places including for children with SEMH, ASD, Complex Learning Difficulties (CLD) and SLCN.

Two alternative provision free schools will provide over 100 places in the West Midlands for children who have been, or are at risk of being, excluded from mainstream education.