More than six in ten mainstream primary school staff (61%) lack confidence that their school’s buildings and outdoor spaces can accommodate more pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) without major changes, according to a new report.
With more than one in five pupils in England now identified as having special educational needs, schools are under growing pressure to provide spaces where every child can settle, learn and feel they belong. But new research suggests many school staff are not confident their buildings are up to the task.
From cloakrooms converted into calm rooms to headteachers giving up their offices, school staff in England are describing how they are improvising to make space for a growing number of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), according to new research.
The findings come from Space to Belong?, a survey of more than 500 school staff in England, commissioned by A&S Landscape, who design, manufacture and install covered spaces for education, healthcare, commercial and public settings across the UK, and conducted between 10 and 15 September 2026.
Respondents included classroom and specialist SEND teachers, teaching and learning-support assistants, special educational needs co-ordinators, inclusion leads, headteachers, deputies and assistant heads. Nine in ten participants worked with pupils with SEND daily or almost daily.
The figure was 47% among mainstream secondary school staff, highlighting concerns about whether existing school environments can adapt to the needs of a growing and increasingly diverse SEND cohort.
One secondary school teacher described the challenge of adapting dedicated SEND space:
“The size of the space does not change, but our SEND cohort with a wider variety of needs does, making this space noisier, more difficult to use and adapt.”
The research highlights the practical challenges that pupils with SEND can face when school environments do not meet their needs.
Among mainstream staff surveyed:
- Weekly barriers: 63% of primary staff and 46% of secondary staff saw physical or sensory conditions make participation harder for a pupil with SEND at least weekly.
- Indoor break days: among staff who experienced these because of weather, 88% in primary and 70% in secondary saw greater difficulty participating, settling or returning to learning for at least some pupils with SEND.
- Outdoor priorities: 50% of primary staff and 30% of secondary staff prioritised more shaded, sheltered or all-weather outdoor space for inclusion over the next year.
- Benefits beyond SEND: of staff who identified a helpful change, 82% in primary and 81% in secondary said other pupils benefited too.
While staff described challenges in accommodating pupils with SEND, anonymised accounts also highlight how schools are adapting the space they already have.
One primary school teaching assistant described a cloakroom and storage area that had been converted into a calm room, featuring beanbags, a sensory bubble tube and an underwater mural.
The space had made a significant difference, but demand remained high:
“It really makes a huge difference, but at times there is a queue for the room!”
At another mainstream primary school, the headteacher gave up their office to create a SEND learning hub. A classroom teacher described how the space had helped pupils feel included and secure:
“The children that use it have a real sense of belonging with other children in there and see it as a safe space.”
These accounts illustrate how schools are making changes to support pupils with SEND, sometimes by repurposing existing facilities to create dedicated or adaptable environments.
The research comes as more than one in five pupils in England have identified special educational needs, according to the Department for Education’s 2025/26 statistics.
The government has also committed at least £3.7 billion to high-needs capital funding between 2025/26 and 2029/30, as part of its education estates strategy.
Alongside the demand for suitable SEND provision, environmental conditions can affect how school spaces are used. Following the UK’s provisionally hottest summer on record, the Met Office has highlighted the potential for more frequent heat extremes.
Among mainstream staff who had experienced heat making spaces harder to use, 52% said a suitable alternative was rarely or never available.
As schools consider how to create more inclusive environments, the research highlights the importance of looking at the adaptability, accessibility and usability of both indoor and outdoor spaces.
Dr Adam England, education specialist and school leader (PhD), said: “As a biologically evolutionary species, children respond to habitat before anything else. When a school environment is rigid or poorly optimised, it places an unnecessary cognitive load on pupils, eating up their mental ‘disk space’ and making self-regulation or learning much harder, particularly for children with additional needs.
“By designing spaces that offer flexibility, natural lighting, and lower stress levels, we give pupils an environment that actively supports their emotional well-being and helps them feel secure.
“Schools shouldn’t have to rely on makeshift workarounds. When we design flexible, multi-use spaces that reduce cognitive load and respect how children interact with their physical habitat, we transform spaces from rigid bottlenecks into working assets that benefit every single learner.”
Roger Penprase, Managing Director at A&S Landscape, said: “What this report shows is how often staff are having to improvise because the right space just isn’t available when a pupil with SEND needs it. Staff told us about cloakrooms becoming calm spaces, dining areas being used for one-to-one sessions and libraries providing quieter places at lunchtime.
“With six in ten primary staff lacking confidence that their existing buildings and outdoor spaces could accommodate more pupils with SEND, it’s clear that schools are facing a real challenge. “We hope this research brings together the experiences of staff and helps schools consider how existing spaces could offer pupils more choice and flexibility throughout the day.”
