£3m to be spent on new classrooms and SEND unit at Wolverhampton schools

More than £3m is set to be spent building more classrooms and a new SEND unit at schools in Wolverhampton.

City of Wolverhampton Council has confirmed it will be spending £3.1m to create more places at Grove Primary School in Ettingshall as well as classrooms and a new special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) unit at Field View Primary School in Bilston.

The plans for Field View Primary School in Lonsdale Road include two new classrooms and extensions and refurbishments to make way for two new 30-pupil classes by 2028.

A ‘bulge’ reception class would begin at the school in September 2027 followed by a further 30-pupil class in 2028.

A new SEND unit, with a sensory room and ramps, would open with an initial eight places in 2027 followed by a further eight in 2028.

Three new classrooms would be built at Grove Primary School in Caledonia Road as part of plans for rising pupil numbers in the coming years.

A report by City of Wolverhampton Council said: “The point-of-entry bulge classes at Field View Primary School and Grove Primary School and the establishment of a resourced provision at Field View Primary School would secure school places to help meet demand in [the area] for both mainstream and SEND.

“This would allow more families the opportunity to attend a preferred school and to ensure the council’s statutory duty – to ensure the sufficiency of provision – can continue to be fulfilled.”

The demand for specialist school places in Wolverhampton has risen significantly with the number of pupils with an education, health and care plans (EHCPs) rising by more than 50 per cent in the last five years – growing from 2,185 in 2021 to 3,352 in 2026.

Autism spectrum disorder, speech, language and communication, and social, emotional and mental health are the most common needs with all seeing year-on-year increases.

Speech, language and communication increased from 714 children in February 2025 to 809 at the same this year – a rise of more than 13 per cent.

The council said demand is increasing faster than places can be created and is forced to place children in independent provision in Wolverhampton as well as outside the city – which comes at a high cost.

The average cost per child per year is around £76,000.