SEMH Special School, Didcot
Oxfordshire County Council is inviting proposals under Section 7 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 for the establishment and operation of two new special schools within Oxfordshire. The invitation is being issued in accordance with the Department for Education's Opening new schools statutory guidance published in May 2026.
The Council has identified a need for additional specialist provision to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and has approved the development of two new special schools as part of its wider SEND Sufficiency Strategy.
The council is therefore seeking proposals from suitably experienced and capable organisations to establish and operate these schools.
Schools included in this invitation
The invitation relates to the following schools:
- One special school is due to be built within the Valley Park development, and will specialise in educating children with Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD), Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD) and other associated needs. This will be referred to as School A. Information about this school can be found here.
- Another special school will specialise in educating children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) needs. This will be referred to as School B.
Full details of each school, including the proposed designation, age range, capacity, opening arrangements, site information and educational requirements, are set out in the accompanying specifications.
Proposers may submit:
a proposal for School A only;
a proposal for School B only; or
proposals for both schools.
Where a proposer wishes to be considered for both schools, separate proposals must be submitted for each school unless otherwise stated within the application documentation.
The submission window opens on 14th September 2026 and closes on 9th November 2026. A full timeline can be found in the linked invitation letter.
Assessment Process
Following the submission deadline, proposals will be assessed against the published evaluation criteria.
In accordance with the statutory process:
all proposals received will be published;
a statutory representation period will be undertaken before any determination is made; and
proposals will be evaluated having regard to the published criteria and any representations received.
The council may invite shortlisted proposers to attend an interview and presentation session as part of the evaluation process.
Further Information
Any requests for clarification should be submitted in writing to:
School Organisation and Planning
Schools & Settings (Sufficiency)
Oxfordshire County Council
Questions and responses may be shared with all proposers where appropriate to ensure an open and transparent process.
The Council looks forward to receiving proposals from organisations that share our ambition to deliver high-quality specialist provision for Oxfordshire children and young people.
Documents
The application form and associated documents are linked on this consultation. You may also want to read the current Oxfordshire SEND Sufficiency Delivery Strategy which is available on the county council website.
