Wokingham funds 600 local SEND places to reduce long journeys

Wokingham’s first new local SEND facilities will open this autumn, beginning a £40 million programme designed to create more than 600 places by 2029.

Some children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities currently travel 20 miles or more for education. The journeys are disruptive, while independent placements can cost the council up to five times more.

The four-year plan combines 260 specialist-school places, more than 240 places across 14 mainstream schools and 120 places in three post-16 hubs. The first mainstream facilities are due during the autumn term, and a post-16 hub at the former Wokingham Library is set to open in September with vocational training, employment advice and life-skills support.

The programme links inclusion with a practical response to rising costs and demand. More than 600 is a delivery target rather than a completed result, several sites are still being finalised, and highly specialised needs may still require education outside the borough.

The first openings next month will allow families and the council to track take-up, journey reductions and whether promised savings materialise.