News

Concern over long school journeys for SEN pupils

With the number of pupils needing places in special schools set to rise by 11,000 in the coming years, concern has been voiced at the distance SEN students are being forced to travel to go to school.

A research report has found that students must travel an average of four miles each way to attend special school in urban areas. This distance rises to 10 miles in rural areas and there are “significant numbers” of pupils travelling further still.

The analysis, which has been published by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think-tank, notes that the government has set out a commitment to improve access to “good” schools, arguing that too many children do not live within a reasonable distance of a good school.

However, at the same time, measures to improve access to special schools have not also been proposed.

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