Plans to significantly expand Ivel Valley School have been approved by Central Bedfordshire Council, creating more specialist places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The expansion will increase capacity across Ivel Valley School to 330 places and provide 20 new classrooms, alongside the remodelling of 12 existing classrooms to create six larger, improved learning spaces. Additional parking will also be provided as part of the scheme.
The expansion is part of the Council's work to ensure sufficient and suitable specialist school places are available to meet growing demand for SEND provision across Central Bedfordshire.
The Council's approved 2026 to 2027 capital programme includes £42.2 million provision for the scheme, with the project remaining subject to detailed design and cost refinement.
The decision follows a statutory consultation held this summer in which 58 per cent of respondents supported the proposal.
Councillor Gareth Mackey, our Executive Member for Children and Families, said:
We take our responsibility to our Children with SEND and their families very seriously and are committed to giving them the very best facilities we can afford.
The expansion of Ivel Valley School will provide much-needed additional places while also creating modern, purpose-designed learning spaces that better reflect the needs of the children and young people who use them.
The feedback we have received from stakeholders, especially Ivel Valley School and our SEND community, has been intrinsic to how we have decided to move forward. The concerns on disruption to pupils during construction, the bridleway, parking, access have been heard loud and clear. I am committed to working closely with the school and wider community during the design, planning and build to ensure that we meet our commitment to mitigating these concerns.
This is a significant investment of over £40m in specialist education provision in Central Bedfordshire and represents a major part of our commitment to our SEND community. I am delighted that we can finally bring this project to fruition.
The proposal will provide predominantly new-build specialist spaces, alongside improvements to existing classrooms. The new facilities are intended to provide improved accessibility, enhanced therapeutic provision and a learning environment designed to meet current and forecast SEND needs.
The detailed design and configuration of the expansion, plus concerns of safeguarding, traffic and parking, access and minimising disruption to pupils will be developed collaboratively with the school, subject to relevant planning, highways, procurement and other approval processes before construction can begin.