Pupils in special schools are forced to travel three times as far as pupils in mainstream education on average, in order to attend lessons.

Yet, while the government has used travelling distance as a justification for proposing to open new selective schools, it shows no inclination to tackle the shortage of special schools, a new report claims.

Access to Special Schools in England, published today by the Education Policy Institute, examines how easy it for the 110,000 pupils who attend a special school to access appropriate education.

It found that the average pupil attending an urban special school travels around four miles each way. In rural areas, the average travel distance is 10 miles either way.

In the most rural areas in England, however, children journey even further to reach the nearest special schools, with one in 10 travelling more than 23 miles one way.

On average, urban pupils attending mainstream schools travel one mile, children in rural towns travel 2.2 miles, and children in rural villages travel 3.8 miles

No choice

The report contrasts this with a statement made by schools minister Nick Gibb in 2016, pointing out that less than half of the children starting secondary school the previous year had a “good” or an “outstanding” school place within three miles of their home.

The report states: “In other words, the reforms proposed by ministers…sought to address the fact that many pupils do not have the choice of a high-performing school nearby.”

It points out that a key justification for the government’s plans to open more grammar schools was that pupils currently have to travel long distances to attend a selective school.

“Ministers argued that more good schools were needed, and that too many children do not live within a reasonable distance of a good school,” the report states.

“Potential solutions put forward included the expansion of the free-schools programme, new faith schools, and, most controversially of all, the introduction of a wave of new grammar schools.”

The report finds that pupils attending a special school travel at least as far as those in selective schools, on average. And it questions why the government has not yet addressed the long distances that many pupils travel to reach special schools.

‘Forced out of the system’

Jon Andrews, the author of the report, said: “For some pupils, these distances risk becoming insurmountable. A reliance on home-to-school transport leaves pupils vulnerable to cuts in local authority budgets and changes to local provision.

“In the absence of alternative arrangements, these pupils could end up being forced out of the system altogether.”

And Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, pointed out that the report was especially timely, because the number of pupils needing places at special schools is predicted to increase by 11,000 over the next five years.

“It is clearly vital that particular thought is given to how and where these places are provided, to ensure that the distance young people have to travel to school is kept to the minimum possible,” Mr Barton said.

“These young people are obviously among the most vulnerable in our society, and must be a priority in terms of place-planning.”

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