A new 200 place special school in Cheltenham
On Wednesday 5 March 2025, Gloucestershire County Council’s Cabinet approved the allocation of £20million to establish a new special school for children with Complex Learning Difficulties (CLD), including autism and associated communication and interaction difficulties.
It will be an ‘all-through’ school for up to 200 primary and secondary pupils, built on land owned by the County Council west of Alstone Croft and accessed from Arle Road. It is a disused school playing field, previously allocated to the now closed St Benedict’s Catholic School, so it has a long history of education use. We will also look to increase the amount of space available to The St George’s Centre as part of this project.
The portion of land to the east of the railway line, which has historically been used as playing fields for Christchurch Primary School, is not being considered as part of this special school proposal.
There continues to be an increasing need for special school places in the county, in line with the picture in other parts of the country, and the highest level of demand for places needed is centred around Gloucester and Cheltenham. There are plans for a new special school to open in Gloucester in 2026/27, which follows the establishment of a special school in Brockworth (September 2022) and Stroud (September 2023).
The shortage of places locally means some children currently travel to schools out of county or to independent schools to have their educational needs met. This new school would be centrally located within the county, close to an area of demand and within reasonable travelling distance of other parts of the county.
The need to increase the number of special school places is underpinned by Gloucestershire’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Strategy 2022-25 and the SEND Commissioning Strategy 2019-2024.
In line with Gloucestershire County Council’s Climate Change Strategy to reduce the Council’s emissions to net zero by 2030 the building will strive for net zero emissions associated with the running of the building.
Applying to run the new school: competition process April – June 2025
The school will open as a ‘free school’. In these situations, the County Council launches a competition to invite suitably experienced Academy Trusts to apply to run the school. A copy of the full specification document is available to view here:
The competition launched on 28th April 2025 with a deadline for applications of 23rd June 2025.
As a result of the competition, Enable Trust were successful in getting the opportunity to sponsor the new school.
Community engagement and liaison
A number of drop-in information sessions will be arranged as the project progresses. The first of these was on Wednesday 21st May 2025 3.00pm – 6.30pm at The St George’s Centre on Alstone Lane. It provided an early opportunity for residents to learn more about the next steps in the process, and the timeline involved. It also gave an opportunity for people to give their views as to the most important factors for the team to consider when designing the building and grounds. As the process was still at an early stage, there were not any detailed plans to review and comment on.
The design process for the new school is well underway and we held a drop in event for people who live nearby, along with parents and carers of children with SEND, to review and comment on the detailed designs before the submission for planning approval.
We held a second public engagement drop in event for residents and other interested parties at The St George’s Centre, Alstone Lane, Cheltenham, GL51 8HH on Thursday 2nd October 2025 between 3pm and 6pm.
The event was well attended by both local residents and parent/carers and we received some valuable feedback which will form part of the planning process.
Copies of the slides shown at the event can be viewed here.
Letters to residents
- Letter to residents February - delivered to approximately 150 homes in the area. Properties closest and adjacent to the site were prioritised to receive the letter.
- Leaflet drop 6th May 2025 - delivered to approximately 500 homes in the area.
- Leaflet drop 16/9/25 - delivered to approximately 500 homes in the area inviting attendance to the meeting on 2nd October.
Photos and designs
Land to be allocated to new special school
Aerial view of proposed design 1
Aerial view of proposed design 2
Planning
A planning application has been submitted and a link to the Public Access Planning Portal can be found here. Planners would welcome any comments that you may have by the closing date of 11th December 2025.
We would strongly advise looking at the portal link above for the most recent and comprehensive information. The documents below, as well as those shown at the drop in event, only form an overview; these do not provide a full summary of the application.
How can I find out more?
We will use this webpage to provide regular updates, and we will maintain a Frequently Asked Questions document.
If you are seeking a place at the school for your child, please contact your named SEND Casework Officer in the EHCP Team, phone 01452 426922, or email sengenenq@gloucestershire.gov.uk
Any other comments or enquiries can be raised by emailing universalcommissioning@gloucestershire.gov.uk or by calling Nathan Roe, Education Planning Manager, on 01452 427262.