Overview
Central Bedfordshire Council is proposing some changes to Ivel Valley School to help meet the growing demand for special school places in Central Bedfordshire.
Ivel Valley is the only special school in the east of Central Bedfordshire. The proposed changes are to the main school site on Hitchmead Road, Biggleswade. The college (on a different site) and Maythorn children’s home are not affected by these proposals.
The school also needs around £800,000 of maintenance over the next three years. Approximately 55% of its buildings are temporary accommodation, and some classrooms are too small for current needs. Despite this, the buildings at Hitchmead Road could last another 40 to 60 years with proper maintenance.
Demand for SEND places has gone up by 94% between 2017 and 2023. As part of our plan to increase provision, we need to create more places to make sure we have enough places for children.
We have a budget for all Specialist School and Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) places as set out below. Ivel Valley needs to be funded from within this budget, alongside the building of all other Specialist School and ARP places. We presently have a requirement to create around another 500 specialist places. Any additional funding would be required to be found from the existing capital programmes.
In February 2025, councillors approved a new budget for all special schools and Additional Resourced Provisions (ARPs):
Total budget: £60.71 million
External funding: £9.09 million
Total Council borrowing: £51.62 million (after external funding)
The Ivel Valley project is included in this budget. Around £14 million has already been secured from the Department for Education’s High Needs Provision Capital Allocation. Any extra funding would have to come from our wider capital programme.
This is the largest capital investment we will have made from our own resources and is part of a wider plan to reduce reliance on out-of-area placements - reducing costs and providing more options for children to learn closer to home.
We’ve looked at several ways to create more specialist school places at Ivel Valley and have identified a preferred option which we think provides the optimum balance of delivering new facilities for the current pupils, additional places for the wider SEND community and value for money in line with statutory requirements.
The Council is now consulting on all the options that we have considered to increase places and improve the learning environment for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) at Ivel Valley and we would like to hear your views on all the options before we make any final decisions.
How to have your say
Please read the information below about the options considered and the Council’s current preferred option and submit your views by completing our questionnaire by the end of the day on 19 December 2025.
Have your say on proposed changes to Ivel Valley school
Engagement events
We will publish details of engagement events for this consultation here soon.
We will also share dates in our email alerts. Sign up for consultation email alerts to get updates on this and other consultations.
What happens after the consultation?
All of the feedback will be collated, and our Scrutiny Committee and then Executive Committee will consider this before deciding which option to progress to the next stage.
The second stage will follow the Department for Education’s legal process for making changes to schools and includes another consultation, with more detail, on the option being progressed.
A final decision is expected in 2026.
Summary of options
The Council has looked at several ways to create more specialist school places at Ivel Valley. Options 1-4 would increase the total number of establishment places from 245 to 330. Option 5 would not increase the number of places. Numbers of children on roll at Ivel Valley can exceed the establishment number for various reasons including tribunal decisions.
We’ve assessed each option based on:
- the quality of education and support it would provide
- how much on-site disruption it would cause to pupils
- value for money for council taxpayers
- speed of delivery of new places and how quickly the current pupils will have new facilities
A summary of the options is provided below, and more detail is available in the pages that follow.
Options
Option 1a: Provide more than 20 brand new classrooms in a single new school building on the existing site. Plus, remodelling 12 current classrooms into 6 larger classrooms and provide additional parking on unused land at Stratton School.
Cost: £39 million
When we expect the first pupils to be in new classrooms: Winter 2028/29
Estimated completion of all works: Summer 2030
Option 1b: Provide more than 20 brand new classrooms across two new teaching blocks; one on the existing site and one on unused land at Stratton School. Additional parking to be provided with each block. Plus, remodelling 12 current classrooms into 6 larger classrooms (preferred option).
Cost: £43 million
When we expect the first pupils to be in new classrooms: Winter 2028/29
Estimated completion of all works: Summer 2030
This option is the Council’s current preferred option because it provides the optimum balance of delivering new facilities for the current pupils, additional places for the wider SEND community and value for money.
We believe this is the most cost-effective way to meet the Council’s legal duty to provide sufficient SEND places in the area of need.
Two new teaching blocks could also support separating primary and secondary education provision at the school in the future.
We would like to hear your views on this during the consultation and all the other options that have been considered.
Option 2: Build more than 20 new classrooms across two sites; the existing site at Hitchmead Road and a site at London Road, Biggleswade. Plus, remodelling 12 classrooms into 6 larger classrooms.
Cost: £44 million
When we expect the first pupils to be in new classrooms: Summer 2028
Estimated completion of all works: Winter 2029/30
Option 3: Build an entirely new school at London Road, Biggleswade
Cost: £56 million
When we expect the first pupils to be in new classrooms: Summer 2029
Estimated completion of all works: Winter 2029/30
Option 4: Build an entirely new school on the site on the Land East of Biggleswade
Cost: £66 million
When we expect the first pupils to be in new classrooms: not determined yet, but reasonable to assume Winter 2028/29
Estimated completion of all works: Summer 2029
Option 5: Do nothing
Cost: £800k over next three years (maintenance backlog)
When we expect the first pupils to be in new classrooms: not applicable
Estimated completion of all works: not applicable
This table compares six options for delivering new classrooms by quality, on-site disruption, price and speed. Option 1b is the preferred option.
| Options | Improved quality of support or places | Level of on-site disruption | Price of build | Speed of pupils in new classrooms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1a) Provide more than 20 brand new classrooms in a single new school building on the existing site. Plus, remodelling 12 current classrooms into 6 larger classrooms and provide additional parking on unused land at Stratton School. | Yes – significant upgrade, but more limited site flexibility. | Medium – new block is on the existing site, but disruption is reduced through phased works and fencing. | Lowest cost | Winter 2028/29 |
| 1b) Provide more than 20 brand new classrooms across two new teaching blocks: one on the existing site and one on unused land at Stratton School. Additional parking to be provided with each block. Plus, remodelling 12 current classrooms into 6 larger classrooms (preferred option). | Yes – significant upgrade with future flexibility and potential for Primary/Secondary split. | Medium – layout has a block on the adjacent site as well as the current site, reducing the level of disruption. | Lower cost | Winter 2028/29 |
| 2) Build more than 20 new classrooms across two sites: the existing site at Hitchmead Road and a site at London Road, Biggleswade. Plus, remodelling 12 classrooms into 6 larger classrooms. | Yes – but split-site which is operationally more challenging to run. | Medium – layout has a block on the separate site as well as the current site, reducing the level of disruption. | Lower cost | Quickest – Summer 2028 |
| 3) Build an entirely new school at London Road, Biggleswade. | Yes – purpose-built, but operational challenges. | Low – off-site build avoids disruption entirely. | High cost | Summer 2029 |
| 4) Build an entirely new school on the site on the Land East of Biggleswade. | Yes – modern facilities, but isolated location and no existing infrastructure. | Low – new site avoids disruption, but unknown constraints. | Highest cost | Not determined yet, but reasonable to assume Winter 2028/29 |
| 5) Do nothing. | No – no change to current pressures or quality. | None – no construction. | Zero building costs, but maintenance costs. | Not applicable |