If you need this document in a different format or language, please contact SENconsultation@Cullompton.bep.ac or call 01884 33364.
Introduction
This document is a statutory consultation issued in accordance with the Department for Education guidance “Making Significant Changes to An Academy Guidance” (February 2026).
Blackdown Education Partnership (BEP), in cooperation with Devon County Council, is consulting on a proposal to make a significant organisational change to existing SEND provision within the Cullompton locality. Consultation responses are invited from pupils, parents/carers, staff, professionals, local residents, and any other interested parties.
Proposal
The Blackdown Education Partnership is proposing to establish a Specialist Base at Cullompton Community College. It is proposed that the base will initially open in January 2027 with a small number of students. Phased admissions will increase the number to a maximum capacity of 20 students over a longer period.
A Specialist base is a provision within a mainstream school where pupils are taught within a separate space. The Specialist base will support students with needs relating to their Social, Emotional and Mental Health. Specifically, the base will support those struggling with Emotional Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA). All pupils attending the base would have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which specifies the Base as their main setting.
Background
Increasing local SEN provision is part of a county-wide strategy by Devon County Council in response to the demand for increased special educational needs provision and to enhance the inclusive capacity of mainstream schools.
A Specialist base supports learners whose needs can be met in a mainstream setting, but who require a specialist environment and support within the school. Pupils are supported within this environment with an Education Health and Care Plan, small class sizes and high staffing ratios. Our aim is to enable pupils to fulfil their potential to successfully access their education on our site at Cullompton, either within the Specialist base, or with provision blended across the base and the mainstream school as appropriate to pupils’ individual needs.
Cullompton Community College is a mainstream secondary school located in Cullompton, Devon and is part of the Blackdown Education Partnership. The school has 743 students currently on roll between 11 and 16 years old. The school supports students with a wide range of Special Educational Needs, including those with Education Health Care Plans and those with SEN Support.
Evidence of need
Devon has seen a significant increase in the number of children and young people with an EHCP since 2018. There is a need to increase local capacity to meet demand around specific areas of growth which includes increasing support for pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs.
This proposal will ensure a better offer for children and young people that is local and suitable to their needs. The proposal will support more children with special educational needs to be educated and thrive in a local school and community, facilitating better access to the curriculum and avoiding the need for children to travel to an appropriate setting further away.
The base will be designed to provide a structured, nurturing environment that is small, welcoming and inclusive and supported by a high level of adult support. The leadership of the base will sit within Cullompton Community College’s current leadership structure. The school will be supported by the Special Partnership Trust (SPT) in terms of curriculum and staffing development. The base will provide a bespoke curriculum, specialist facilities and appropriate support to ensure that young people accessing the base can flourish and be successful.
Initially, from January 2027 the base will cater for a small number of pupils on a bespoke plan. The installation of a modular structure on the site in the spring term of 2027 will provide a separate tailored space so that pupils can thrive in a small and nurturing environment.
Benefits of the proposal
- Support more students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to be educated and thrive in their local school and community;
- Enhance students’ progress by effectively meeting their individual special educational needs;
- Help facilitate better access to the curriculum and support students to achieve their potential;
- Better support students for life beyond school and in preparation for adulthood;
- Ensure that needs can be met locally, avoiding the requirement for students to spend unnecessary time travelling to an appropriate provision further away;
- Increase the availability of places to meet the needs of students with SEND;
- Address identified geographical, age and phase gaps;
- Support the sharing of expertise and good SEND practice within the local area.
Project, costs and expenditure
There is insufficient capacity within the current college buildings to accommodate the specialist base so a separate ‘modular building’ will be installed on the site. A feasibility study has been completed, and it is anticipated that the new facility will include:
- Two classrooms;
- One group intervention room (including a kitchenette);
- One sensory space;
- One 1:1 intervention space;
- WC (staff and student separately)
- One office;
- Fenced, outside space
Funding for the works has been approved within Devon County Council’s capital programme. The project will include the construction work as well as furniture and equipment. Revenue funding from Devon County Council is in place to support this proposal.
Admission to the resource base
To be considered for a place in the Specialist base, the child or young person must have an EHCP. Should the creation of the base be approved, places will be allocated by an admissions panel containing representatives from both Devon County Council and the College. The pupils within the new Specialist base will be admitted above the mainstream published admission number (PAN). The PAN of the College will remain the same and will not be impacted by this proposal.
Consultation and decision-making process
This consultation will take place from 21st July to 20th September 2026.
Following the end of the consultation, the Board of Trustees will consider all responses received and make a decision as to whether to proceed with the proposal. If it is decided to proceed, the Trust will make an application to the Department for Education’s (DfE) South West Region’s Group. It is the DfE’s Regions Group who will consider the application and responses received to the consultation before making a decision on whether to approve the proposal.
Responding to the consultation
The Trust welcome feedback on this proposal. Comments can be made to Blackdown Education Partnership either by:
- Email: SENconsultation@Cullompton.bep.ac
- By post to: Specialist Base Consultation, Cullompton Community College, Exeter Road, Cullompton, EX15 1DX
Please note that all responses must be received by midnight on 19th September 2026.
All responses to the consultation will be considered and will be shared with the College’s leadership team, Trust board of directors and trustees. Responses will also be shared with Devon County Council and the South West Region’s Group at the DfE, but we will not send individual responses to any specific points made.