How pupils with special educational needs are more likely to see their schools close

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. How pupils with special educational needs are more likely to see their schools close10 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleHayley Clarke ,Education reporterandHarriet Agerholm ,Senior data journalistBBCNine-year-old Blake is trying to climb over the locked gates of his former primary school, St Dominic's in Hackney, when we meet him. It closed last year due to falling pupil numbers. The playground is overgrown, and the modular buildings stand quiet and empty.

When the school closed, Blake found the loss of his community particularly difficult. He is autistic and has ADHD. This means he can find a change in routine and managing his emotions more challenging.

The Details

His mum Christina says he's still struggling with the closure. "When he started his new school he started getting up four to seven times a night because of the anxiety of being in a new school with new people he doesn't know," she says. "He was just like a little nervous wreck.

"Now, she says his emotions are "playing up more", and he sees his new school as "not my school". Though he has made some new friends, "he's scared to open up again in case that friend gets taken away". When the school closed, Blake found the loss of his community particularly difficultMore than 100 state-funded schools in England have closed over the past five years, which many analysts suggest is largely driven by declining birth rates.

A recent National Audit Office (NAO) report says pupil numbers have fallen by 3% since 2018-19, and are projected to fall a further 7% in the next five years. It's a similar picture in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where education is devolved. Analysis by the 's data journalism team suggests pupils requiring special educational needs (SEN) provision - the official term in school census reporting - have been disproportionately affected by these school closures.

What Experts Say

In the schools that closed between 2020 and 2025, nearly 30% of children had special educational needs, compared with a rate of approximately 20% in the wider school population. Even excluding special schools, pupil referral units, alternative provisions and studio schools (small vocational schools), there is still a higher rate of SEN pupils at the closed schools. We raised these figures with the Department for Education (DfE).

In response, the DfE says it is helping schools across England to repurpose space for school-based nurseries and children with SEND - a broader definition covering all special educational needs and disabilities. It will introduce new guidelines for local leaders to respond to the changing demand in the autumn. The government set out major reforms to the SEND system in England in February, including plans for better inclusion in mainstream schools, earlier support, and taking away the fight for support many families go through.

But many parents are anxious about what these reforms will mean.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.