New schools: A look at three of the new academies set to open in 2025 - and where they will be

• A number of new academy ‘free schools’ are set to open across England in the coming years, after successful bids by local authorities.
• Some slated to open in 2025 will provide much-needed SEND provision to new areas.
• Others will create new primary school places in up-and-coming areas - relieving pressure on existing local schools.

Families in some parts of England are set to benefit from brand new schools in the new year, some bringing vital specialist education right to their doorstep.

Although the UK’s population is generally considered to be aging, and primary schools are even shutting down in some areas due to a lack of pupils - particularly in some of the London boroughs - other parts of the country are still seeking proposals for new academies or free schools via the Department for Education.

New legislation proposed by the government this month would also see local authorities able to open new council-run maintained schools once more, to ensure there are enough places for families in high-demand regions. However, this is still some way off, and many proposed academies sought via official channels are still in the early stages of planning or development.

Many of the new schools sought by councils are for young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND). Earlier this month, the government announced £740m of extra funding to increase places for pupils with SEND in England’s mainstream schools, the BBC reports, not long after a report by the National Audit Office declared that the country’s current special education system was ‘failing’ - and “not achieving value for money”.

But where can we expect to see new schools actually opening to pupils in the new year? Here are three that have been highlighted in government records as being set to open in 2025:

Yorkshire

A new special secondary school for about 80 pupils is set to open in Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, in 2025. According to the government’s list, its current proposed opening date is 1 April.

However, the BBC reports that work on the new school may not be complete until September 2025. The old Woodfield Community Primary School, in the Bilton area, which closed down in 2022 is being converted, as part of a £2 million project to meet a ‘rising demand’ for specialist education provision in the region.

The local council reported that the number of young people identified with SEND and an education, health and care plan (EHCP) in place in the area had increased by more than 110% since 2016, the broadcaster said.

The facility will cater towards pupils with autism, and will feature state-of-the-art classrooms, a sensory room, and outdoor learning spaces.

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West Midlands

A primary school for the St John’s Grange housing development in Lichfield, Staffordshire, is scheduled to open in September 2025 - just in time for the start of the 2025/26 school year. It will initially be able to host about 210 pupils.

Work on the new St John’s Grange development began in 2021, bringing dozens of new homes to the south of the city. The Staffordshire County Council said that there was now a need for about 420 school places in the area, but that the new school would be opened in phases, with the opening of the second phase to be “driven by demand and further housing in the south of Lichfield”.

In a consultation with local residents, most had been in favour of a new school, the council continued, feeling it would “would strengthen community capacity through providing opportunities to bring parents together and through the provision of clubs both in and outside of school hours”.

According to the Express & Star, the new primary school will also help to take the pressure off the three other primary schools, all of which are on a nearby street called Cherry Orchard. One councillor described the street as “mayhem” at pick-up and drop off time, with adults needing to help children cross the road safely.

South East

Over in Berkshire’s Bracknell Forest, residents will also be getting a new special secondary school. It is currently slated to open in September, in time for the new school year, and will be in the Warfield area.

The school will be able to host about 50 pupils, specialising in those with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH). Bracknell Forest Council wrote that it was currently being “forced to send far too many pupils to out of area, high-cost provision due to the lack of suitable, high-quality settings in the borough”.

There were currently no specialist SEMH schools in the area, they continued, which was not only imposing a burden on families, but had contributed to a significant budget deficit in SEN spending for the local authority.

Local news title Bracknell News reported that the school is being built on the vacant site of the former All Saints CE School - another school which closed in 2022.

Is your part of the country in need of new schools, or struggling to fill places with enough young people? Let us know by leaving a comment below.