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Birmingham Schools Expand SEND Support Programs Ahead of 2026 Launches
Local authorities face decisions on staffing, site readiness and school selection criteria as new facilities and teaching models move toward 2026 and 2027 launch dates.
How we reported this
Birmingham City Schools will open two new special free schools in September 2027 that will provide 520 additional places for pupils with special educational needs. Redevelopment plans approved for Baskerville School in Harborne will add a new two-storey building for pupils with autism as part of the same push to increase capacity.
The announcements arrive at a time when demand for specialist places continues to outpace supply across the city. Families and headteachers have pressed for earlier intervention options in mainstream settings while new buildings are prepared, prompting officials to outline how the expanded provision will be phased in.
Rollout of district SEND support model
Birmingham is developing a district-based Experts at Hand model intended to improve early access to SEND support inside mainstream schools. The approach will place specialist staff in local clusters so that schools can draw on advice without waiting for formal assessments or out-of-area referrals.
Chapter One will extend its free one-to-one reading support for Years 1 to 3 into additional Birmingham schools from September 2026, with priority given to sites that have high numbers of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding. Climate Ed will run fully funded workshops for Year 5 and 6 classes across the city during the 2026-27 academic year.
Key decisions on implementation
Council documents list September 2027 as the target opening for the two new special schools and September 2026 for the expanded reading programme. Planners must now settle questions of staffing ratios, transport routes to the new sites and criteria for allocating the 520 places among families already on waiting lists.
School leaders will also decide how the Experts at Hand teams will be distributed across districts and which primary schools will first receive Chapter One tutors. These choices will shape how quickly the additional support reaches classrooms once the academic year begins.
Parents seeking places at the new schools or wishing to join the reading and climate programmes should contact their child’s current school or check the Birmingham City Council school noticeboard pages for application windows and eligibility details as they are published.