SEND demand is exposing a deeper failure in how school estates are planned
Director
The rapid rise in demand for special educational needs and disabilities provision is often described as a capacity crisis. But at AEC, we say that framing it this way misses a more fundamental problem.
The scale of SEND demand
What SEND demand is really exposing is a failure in how school estates are planned, prioritised and adapted. Across England, many schools are being asked to deliver inclusive education in environments that were never designed to support it, and too often, the strategies to change this are not strong enough to ensure funding is used in a targeted and effective way.
There are now more than 1.7 million pupils identified with SEND, around one in five children, and that number continues to rise. More than half of pupils with education, health and care plans are educated in mainstream schools, placing sustained pressure on buildings that were not configured with inclusion in mind. At the same time, demand for specialist places has increased significantly over the past decade, while the cost of provision continues to grow. This is playing out against a backdrop of an ageing school estate, ongoing safety concerns, and increasing pressure on capital budgets. Schools are therefore trying to respond to rising SEND demand within a system that is already under strain.
According to Mark Jackson, Funding and Bid Director at AEC, the issue is not simply one of capacity. “Schools are being asked to adapt environments that were never designed for the needs they are now expected to support. Without a clear and prioritised strategy, it becomes very difficult to ensure investment is directed where it will have the greatest impact.”
Creating the right kind of space
The challenge is not just about creating more space, but about creating the right kind of space. Supporting SEND pupils requires environments that are adaptable, accessible and aligned with a wide range of needs. This includes sensory considerations, appropriate support spaces, and layouts that enable inclusion rather than work against it. Retrofitting this into existing buildings is complex. Without a clear strategic approach, it often results in short-term adjustments rather than long-term solutions. This is where estate strategies are increasingly falling short.
Embedding SEND into estate strategy
In a constrained funding environment, it is no longer enough to demonstrate that need exists. Schools and trusts must show how that need has been assessed, how it has been prioritised alongside condition, safety and capacity pressures, and how investment will deliver meaningful outcomes. AEC is seeing this as a recurring issue across the trusts and local authorities it works with. SEND demand is often not fully embedded into estate planning, and strategies can lack the clarity required to guide effective investment decisions. As a result, projects can stall or fail to deliver the intended long-term impact.
Planning for long-term inclusion
The consequences are already visible. Mainstream schools are under growing pressure to accommodate pupils whose needs their environments are not equipped to support. Temporary adaptations become more common, while longer-term solutions are delayed. Over time, this contributes to widening inequality in access to appropriate provision. If current trends continue, this gap between demand and estate capability will only increase. Addressing it requires a change in the approach. SEND provision needs to be treated as a central driver of estate strategy, not an additional consideration. That means taking a long-term view, using robust data to understand both current and future needs, and aligning priorities with how funding is deployed in practice.
In a system where resources are limited, the strength of the strategy is as important as the scale of the need. SEND is already one of the defining challenges facing the education sector. It is also a clear signal that the way school estates are planned and funded must evolve to keep pace.
