{"id":241683,"date":"2026-02-13T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=241683"},"modified":"2026-02-13T15:12:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:12:37","slug":"inclusion-base-for-every-school-but-who-will-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/inclusion-base-for-every-school-but-who-will-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Inclusion base\u2019 for every school \u2013 but who will pay?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ministers face calls to clarify how their plan for an \u201cinclusion base\u201d in every secondary school will be funded.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department for Education (DfE) announced this week<\/a> that all secondary schools will be expected to have an \u201cinclusion base\u201d, where pupils can \u201caccess targeted support that bridges the gap between mainstream and specialist provision\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the DfE, \u201cinclusion bases\u201d could be \u201cadditional spaces within the school building or refurbishment or repurposing of existing space\u201d, like a spare classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guidance on how to run the bases will be published in the spring, but the DfE said they could be either a school or trust commissioned \u201csupport\u201d or council commissioned \u201cspecialist\u201d space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, councils typically fund special resourced provision (SRP) or SEN units within mainstream schools. But many schools can and do set up their own provision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current provision varies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

School census data suggests that around 7 per cent of primary and 15 per cent of secondary schools have either a special resourced provision or \u201cSEN unit\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But figures given by councils differ slightly, suggesting 9 per cent of primaries and 19 per cent of secondaries have an SRP or unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DfE has said it will work to improve data collection. It will also encourage primary schools to develop an \u201cequivalent number of places\u201d in inclusion bases to those in secondary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means for every one place in secondary schools across an area, there would be one place in local primary schools too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A survey by Teacher Tapp this week showed 86 per cent of headteachers had a base in school to \u201cmake additional arrangements and\/or teach different curricula\u201d for small groups of pupils for some or all of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But their current names vary. Eighteen per cent call it a \u201cnurture room\u201d, 14 per cent labelled it a \u201cinclusion room or base\u201d and 10 per cent referred to it as resourced provision. But 45 per cent call it something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ninety per cent of heads said this was funded through the school\u2019s main budget. A further 15 per cent said it was through additional funding from the council, while five per cent said it was \u201canother arrangement\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funding woes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Vic Goddard, chief executive of Passmores Cooperative Learning, runs two additional resourced provisions and one support base for pupils with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs across his schools in Essex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Vic
Vic Goddard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While the resourced provisions are funded by the council, Goddard said the SEMH unit was \u201cimpossible to finance\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am now sitting in meetings right this second going, \u2018if I want to protect that because that keeps the most vulnerable children in school, then what else needs to go?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo inherently, which slightly less vulnerable children am I going to let down?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DfE said \u00a33 billion in funding over four years for councils will help to support the rollout of the bases. But this funding is capital funding to create the spaces and is available for councils to use in both special and mainstream schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also not clear whether schools will get more day-to-day funding for teaching or support staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better accountability and practice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ofsted has confirmed that it will \u201ctake into account\u201d a school\u2019s inclusion base during inspections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamie Rogers, from the charity The Difference, said it was a \u201cbrilliant opportunity to codify as a country what good looks like\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But schools must \u201cmake sure these spaces are not \u2018dumping grounds for the most vulnerable children\u201d, he warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research by The Difference<\/a> warned internal alternative provision in schools risk serving as pupil \u201cholding pens\u201d that unintentionally reinforce cycles of exclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hannah
Hannah Carter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hannah Carter, headteacher of Orchard Academy in Kent, said plans were \u201cformalising something that fundamentally already exists\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carter\u2019s school has an SRP and a school-funded unit for any pupils requiring support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am very fortunate to have a new-build,\u201d Carter said, but warned against using \u201cleaky, rubbish-looking\u201d rooms or simply \u201crenaming something they have already got\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government needs to give schools \u201cthe money and the structure and the support and the examples of good practice\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carter added that it would be difficult to \u201cquality assure\u201d an inclusion base because of how different school contexts can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Vasilis Strogilos, associate professor at the University of Southampton Education School, said bases \u201cshould not become places where pupils are routinely withdrawn from mainstream classrooms when this is not their preference \u2026 they must not function as \u2018small special schools\u2019 within mainstream settings\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councils and schools working together<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Questions remain over how it will be decided whether a school opens a \u201csupport\u201d or \u201cspecialist\u201d base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob Williams, senior policy advisor at school leader\u2019s union NAHT, said to \u201cavoid any risk of conflict\u201d, bases \u201cshould be planned and established through co-production between councils, local school leaders, parents and other key stakeholders to ensure they complement and build upon existing provision\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at Education Estates SEND Conference last week, Isabel Horner, the head of schools infrastructure at Norfolk County Council, said it \u201ctook more time to engage\u201d with secondary schools in setting up SRPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob Walker, senior strategic development officer from Hampshire County Council, agreed: \u201cIt\u2019s a different dynamic, but it\u2019s a shared challenge that we have, whether it\u2019s a maintained school or academy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve spent a lot of time over the last few years building really strong links with those academy trusts so that we can work together and have really positive discussions about how we help them to support children that they already have within their schools.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leaders call for clarity as data shows current provision – and how it is funded – varies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315335,"featured_media":241621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"post-theme":[],"class_list":["post-241683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t