THE Island’s two schools for pupils with special educational needs ended last year with deficits approaching £3 million, new figures have revealed.
A freedom-of-information response revealed that Mont à l’Abbé School finished 2025 in a £1,507,438 deficit, while La Sente School stood at £1,270,790 in the red.
Together, the two schools account for nearly £2.8 million of overspending, despite educating just over 200 pupils between them.
A separate freedom-of-information response detailing Mont à l’Abbé’s finances over the past three years suggests the situation is not a one-off – but part of a worsening trend.
Spending at the school rose from £5.18 million in 2023 to £7.56 million in 2025, while its budget has failed to keep pace – rising only from £5.17 million to £6.04 million over the same period.
Pupil numbers at Mont à l’Abbé’ have remained relatively stable – increasing from 119 in 2023 to 131 in 2025 – indicating that rising costs are being driven not by a surge in enrolment, but by the increasing complexity of need and the resources required to meet it.
Despite this, the allocated budget for 2026 stands at £6.45 million – over £1 million below last year’s actual spend.
The figures – drawn from “unaudited management accounts” – were published just days after an external reviewer found that Jersey’s special educational needs provision remains in a “transitional phase”, with families still seeing “limited visible progress”.
Six months after a damning review found the provision for young Islanders with special educational needs and disabilities to be “outdated and often unwelcoming”, the returned reviewer concluded that “material improvements” were “not yet evident”.
The first independent monitoring visit since the October 2025 review found that “variability in practice and provision remains evident”.
“Many schools continue to report challenges in meeting increasingly complex needs within current resources,” the report said.
The original October 2025 review found that Jersey’s SEND system was “not sufficiently effective” and was plagued by inconsistency, poor co-ordination and a lack of clear strategy.
That earlier report highlighted widespread frustration among parents, with some describing support as inadequate and inconsistent, and warning that too many children were not having their needs met.
Many of the problems identified in that review – including weak leadership, fragmented systems and inconsistent provision – “developed over a period of years and will require sustained, phased implementation to resolve”, the reviewer added.
