Where will my child go to school?

Children on the autistic spectrum may need help with learning from early in their lives. This could be provided in a mainstream school or special school.

Specialist help is available through special schools. There are special schools that cater for children of all ages, from under five up to 19.

There are three types of special school

Maintained special schools - A school funded by the local authority. This includes special and mainstream schools. Maintained schools can be community schools, voluntary aided schools (generally church schools), voluntary controlled schools (generally founded as church schools and which may or may not be denominational), or foundation schools (former grant maintained schools). Academies are not maintained schools although they are largely state funded and generally operate under similar rules to maintained schools under separate funding agreements with central government.

Non-maintained special schools - Non-maintained special schools, which are largely run by disability charities, offer specialised schooling for children who are visually or hearing impaired or are autistic, for example. Many non-maintained special schools have a long record of taking statemented children and, along with independent schools, currently educate around 12,000 pupils with special educational needs on behalf of local authorities in England.

Independent special schools - Schools which are privately run by an individual proprietor or a company are not subject to much of the legislation applying to state maintained schools. They are subject to disability discrimination legislation, however. Local authorities sometimes use independent schools for pupils with statements of special educational needs. If they name an independent school in a statement they must normally pay the fees for the education provided. If parents choose to place a child in an independent school at their own expense, the local authority must be satisfied that the school can make the special educational provision that meets the child’s needs.

Mainstream education

Most children with special educational needs are educated in mainstream schools. Around three per cent of children with special educational needs require a statement of special education needs (SEN) to provide the help they need. About a third of children with statements attend special schools and the rest are in mainstream education.

If your child has a statement, you can say which school you would like them to go to and appeal if you’re turned down.