Key Points
- Croydon Council is considering plans to repurpose redundant secondary school classrooms into specialist provision for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
- The initiative addresses two converging crises: an unprecedented demand for SEND support and a 22 per cent vacancy rate across local secondary school places last academic year.
- A targeted consultation outlining five proposed strategies—including lowering admission numbers, school amalgamations, and trust federations—closed on September 25.
- Chair of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Councillor Amy Foster, has called for greater transparency and a public timetable, citing concerns over initial consultation visibility and multi-academy trust coordination.
- Croydon Council confirmed that no formal decisions on immediate closures or structural reorganisation have been made, promising full public consultation before any school-specific plans proceed.
Croydon (South London News) October 3, 2026 – How can local authorities balance declining birth rates with a growing need for specialist education? Croydon Council is weighing plans to convert vacant classrooms within mainstream secondary schools into dedicated facilities for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The strategy seeks to resolve two simultaneous challenges facing the borough: a sharp decline in overall pupil intake alongside record demand for specialist educational placements. The scale of unused infrastructure is underlined by official council figures showing that 22 per cent of secondary school places across Croydon remained unfilled during the previous academic year.
Shifted demographics and dropping birth rates have created significant surplus physical capacity across local educational estates. In response, local authority officers have drafted the borough-wide School Organisation Plan, designed to put excess space to more effective use. Repurposing redundant classrooms for specialist SEND provision was presented as one of five key intervention options in a recent consultation with educational leadership that closed on September 25. The remaining options under consideration include lowering Published Admission Numbers (PANs) in over-capacity schools, merging under-occupied institutions, and establishing formal federations between neighbouring academy trusts.
The initial consultation sought targeted feedback from headteachers, governing bodies, Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), Diocesan education boards, and strategic partners regarding present and future place management. However, the limited public reach of the early planning phase has triggered demands for improved transparency from scrutiny leadership. As reported by local democracy reporter excess coverage of municipal governance, Chair of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Councillor Amy Foster, stated that the council must be entirely upfront with residents regarding the operational and financial hurdles confronting local education.
Addressing the broader demographic trends, Councillor Amy Foster explained to reporters that falling school rolls represent a widespread national challenge. Foster highlighted that the impact is particularly acute in north Croydon, where under-subscribed schools face acute financial strains due to funding formulas tied directly to pupil numbers. Foster warned that if falling rolls force unscheduled school closures, the underlying financial deficits would ultimately fall upon the council, noting that the situation highlights the requirement for a carefully managed and coordinated strategy to mitigate risk.
Despite supporting the need for long-term strategic planning, Councillor Amy Foster expressed reservations regarding the visibility of the initial exercise. Foster noted that the engagement had not been sufficiently visible and that residents currently lacked clarity on when and how they could contribute their views. Emphasising that difficult decisions lie ahead, Foster asserted that future options must be evidence-based, transparent, and grounded in meaningful community dialogue. Foster further pointed out potential friction with Multi-Academy Trusts, cautioning that differing governance structures could complicate borough-wide implementation, given that Croydon Council directly maintains primary and nursery provision but manages no secondary institutions directly.
To resolve these governance concerns, Councillor Amy Foster called on municipal leaders to publish a definitive timeline detailing when consultation findings will be released, how subsequent public phases will run, and when any structural adjustments would take effect. Responding to these comments, a Croydon Council spokesperson stated that no decisions have been made regarding immediate closures or institutional reorganisation. The spokesperson explained that any future proposals affecting individual schools—whether involving PAN reductions, amalgamations, room repurposing, or SEND expansion—will undergo full public engagement and formal statutory consultation processes prior to implementation.
What Is the Background to Croydon’s School Space and SEND Crisis?
The structural challenges confronting Croydon Council stem from broader demographic trends affecting urban local authorities across the United Kingdom. Over the past decade, a sustained decline in local birth rates, shifted migration patterns, and changing housing affordability have combined to reduce the absolute number of school-aged children entering the primary and secondary systems. Because school operational funding in England is allocated primarily on a per-pupil basis through the National Funding Formula, falling enrollment figures translate directly into reduced institutional budgets, leaving schools with fixed building overheads but diminishing income streams.
Concurrently, local authorities nationwide have seen an exponential rise in demand for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and dedicated SEND places. Mainstream educational settings often lack the physical adaptation or specialized environments required to support pupils with complex learning, sensory, or physical needs. Historically, when local maintained or academy spaces cannot accommodate SEND pupils, councils are statutory-bound to fund costly independent specialist placements or out-of-borough transports, creating severe pressures on Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) high-needs budgets. By seeking to integrate specialist SEND units inside existing secondary buildings with surplus space, Croydon Council aims to contain external placement costs while optimizing unused educational real estate.
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What Does This Development Mean for Local Families, Schools, and Taxpayers?
The potential implementation of the School Organisation Plan carries distinct implications for several key stakeholder groups across the borough of Croydon:
- Pupils with SEND and Their Families: Converting surplus mainstream capacity into localized specialist units could significantly reduce travel times for vulnerable students who currently commute to out-of-borough facilities. It also offers greater potential for inclusive, hybrid learning models where SEND pupils can access mainstream peers and resources within a safe, adapted environment.
- Mainstream School Leadership and Staff: For headteachers struggling with under-subscription, repurposing empty classrooms into funded SEND hubs provides a financial lifeline. It stabilizes campus operations and protects facilities from total closure. However, school leaders will need to navigate complex logistical changes, including facility adaptations, staff retraining, and managing shared spaces alongside independent Multi-Academy Trusts.
- Local Residents and Taxpayers: For the wider community, a proactive reorganisation plan mitigates the risk of sudden, emergency school closures that can disrupt neighborhoods. From a public finance perspective, retaining SEND placements within local authority boundaries reduces high-cost independent transport and tuition fees, helping to stabilize municipal education spending over the long term.
