Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of special schools that have shortened school (a) days and (b) weeks for funding reasons; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children with special educational needs and disabilities receive a full education.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

The department does not hold data on reasons why special schools have changed their school day or week.

To support children with SEND in special schools, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. Total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND is over £12 billion in 2025/26. Of this total, Hertfordshire County Council is being allocated over £207 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), to support SEND provision in Hertfordshire. This is an increase of £17.6 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF), and a 9.8% increase per head of their 2 to 18 year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.