Free school build plans axed to fund £3bn SEND expansion

The government has pressed pause on a major slice of England’s free school building pipeline to divert £3bn into funding 50,000 new SEND places across mainstream schools.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson confirmed that 28 planned mainstream free schools will be scrapped, with another 16 still under review, as ministers redirect capital spending into specialist spaces designed to keep pupils with SEND learning closer to home.
The move marks the biggest shift in school capital pr