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25
Aug
Bilton special school will not open this term as search for trust continues
The new special school planned for the site of the former Woodfield primary school in Bilton will not open this term because no academy trust has been found to run it, the Stray Ferret can reveal.
The new school is intended to cater for up to 80 pupils aged between 11 and 19 with autism and additional needs, and its opening is meant to reduce the huge backlog of demand for specialist school places in the area.
It was originally hoped that the school would open in September 2024, but that was pushed back to a "phased basis from April 2025". Further delays saw it postponed further, to autumn 2025.
Legal constraint
But according to a law introduced under the previous Conservative government, new schools may not be run directly by local authorities – they must be run by multi-academy trusts, and so far none has been found to run the new Bilton school.
The Stray Ferret contacted the two biggest academy trusts in the Harrogate area – Red Kite and Northern Star – as well as Ascent, a Sunderland-based special school trust with Harrogate connections, to ask whether they had been approached to run the new school, but none has so far responded.
North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for resources, Howard Emmett, told the Stray Ferret that the decision on selecting a trust to sponsor the school “rests with the Department for Education”.
He added:
We have already progressed the building works at the site. Once a trust has been identified, we will work closely with partners towards the opening of the school.
'Disappointed'
The news prompted a strong reaction from local politicians. Paul Haslam, the independent councillor representing the Bilton and Nidd Gorge division on North Yorkshire Council, told us:
I’m very disappointed. We’ve clearly been let down.
I can’t understand why they’ve done a lot of work on the school when they haven’t yet got an academy to run it. If you’re taking over a school, you’d want it to be designed according to your specifications. I don’t know why they’re doing the work unless they’ve got someone in place. It makes no sense.
Cllr Haslam.
Tom Gordon, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said he was pursuing the matter in Westminster. Last month, he asked Stephen Morgan, Minister for Early Education, for a meeting to discuss the issue.
Mr Gordon said:
It is hugely disappointing that Bilton Specialist School will not be opening this September, and even more concerning that families still face uncertainty about when it will be ready. Before Parliament rose for recess, I pressed the Minister for answers and requested a meeting to secure a clear opening date. I am pleased that this meeting has now been confirmed for September.
I know how urgently this school is needed to meet the growing demand for specialist education in North Yorkshire, and I recognise the stress and disruption this ongoing delay is causing for pupils and families who are waiting for the right support.
This meeting must provide clarity, and I will continue to keep the pressure on until families finally have certainty they need.
Tom Gordon MP speaking in Parliament.
Shortfall in specialist school places
In 2023, North Yorkshire Council estimated that an extra 350 special school places would be needed over the coming three to five years.
The situation is so bad that last year, chief executive of North Yorkshire Council, Richard Flixton, told the Stray Ferret that he felt the special needs education system in the county was “broken”.
For local families hoping to secure a place for their autistic child, clarity – and a definite opening date – cannot come soon enough. The deadline for 2026 applications for secondary school places is October 31, 2025 – just 10 weeks away – and parents look unlikely to be able to apply for a place even for September 2026 if no academy trust, and hence no opening date, has yet been announced.
Glimmer of hope
One glimmer of hope may come from legislation currently going through Parliament. The government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill would remove the existing legal presumption that new schools should be academies, potentially solving the Department for Education’s problem of identifying a willing trust to run the school.
The bill has been passed by the House of Commons, but it is currently being considered by the House of Lords, and – if passed – doesn’t look set to come into force until well into the new year.
In the meantime, families with children affected by autism are left waiting. One recently told us she was at her “wits’ end”.
Cllr Haslam added:
It’s poor, to say the least, because we need those places. We’re in danger of selling people short.
There’s clearly a need for this type of school in Harrogate, and I find it unacceptable that when we need those places we haven’t got our act together to provide them.
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