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Special Needs Kids Denied Schooling: Parents Face Crisis
24 Jun
Summary
- Families home-school SEND children due to lack of suitable school places.
- A mother experienced anxiety attacks from the council's failure.
- The council is facing nationwide pressures on SEND services.
Parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) report being forced into home-schooling due to a lack of suitable school placements. One mother from Epsom, Surrey, highlighted the immense stress caused by her 11-year-old son, Bryn, who has autism and ADHD, remaining without a specialist school place despite an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) issued in April 2025. She described the situation as "unbelievably frustrating and really stressful," experiencing anxiety attacks and heart palpitations from the uncertainty.
The mother had to gather hundreds of pages of evidence herself after the council failed to conduct a required Key Stage Transfer Review, a process essential when a child moves between educational stages. She cited a "longstanding systematic failure" within the council, noting a lack of response to tribunal communications. Surrey County Council acknowledged that SEND services are facing pressures felt nationwide and expressed commitment to improvement, including investment in new places and staff.
