Work has started on a £24.5m second site for Woodlands Secondary School in Kestrel Way, Lewsey: 120 more special school places, due to open in autumn 2027.
Building work has started on a £24.5 million second site for Woodlands Secondary School, Luton’s special school for 11 to 18 year olds. It will add up to 120 specialist places when it opens in autumn 2027.
Luton Council announced on Wednesday that a groundbreaking event was held at the new site in Kestrel Way on Monday 19 October. Council leaders, the school and the builder, Morgan Sindall Construction, put the first spade in the ground.
What is being built
The new site is in Kestrel Way, in the Lewsey ward on the west side of the town. Woodlands’ main site is on Northwell Drive, a little under two miles to the north-east. The council says the second site will bring specialist places closer to home for some families in the west of Luton.
The council’s announcement lists:
- a two-storey building with 14 classrooms
- a hydrotherapy pool, a gym and a specialist kitchen
- three playgrounds and three outdoor teaching spaces
- a 60-space car park with six electric vehicle charging bays and five disabled bays
Planning permission was granted on 6 June 2024, under reference 24/00054/REG3. That permission describes a secondary SEN school building with a hydrotherapy pool and changing rooms, “and Respite Centre Facilities”. The council’s announcement this week does not mention a respite centre.
The detailed paperwork has been moving through the planning register all year. Conditions covering drainage, refuse, lighting, boundaries, materials, cycle parking and landscaping have all been signed off since February. Two sprinkler tanks and a pump house were approved separately under 26/00158/FUL.
Why Luton needs the places
Woodlands is already full. The government’s schools register records 262 pupils against a capacity of 265, at the January 2026 census. The council says the school will be able to take up to 385 pupils across its two sites once the new one is fully open.
It is also one of the best-rated schools in the town. Ofsted rated Woodlands outstanding in every area at its last full inspection on 8 May 2024, including its sixth form. It was also rated outstanding in 2016.
The pressure behind the expansion shows up clearly in the national figures. According to the Department for Education’s education, health and care plans statistics, Luton Council maintained 3,037 EHC plans in January 2026. In January 2019 it was 1,532. The number has almost doubled in seven years.
The same figures show where those children are taught. In January 2026, 1,035 Luton children and young people with a plan were in special schools of all kinds, up from 605 in 2019. Of them, 782 were in council-maintained special schools such as Woodlands, and 47 were in independent special schools.
Councillor Amjid Ali, the council leader, said demand for specialist places “has grown, and our existing provision is under increasing pressure”.
“We’re building on the success of a school that already has a strong track record, and this expansion means more young people will have the opportunity to benefit from the education and support the school provides,” he said.
What it means for you
- If your child has an EHC plan and is due to move to secondary school, the new places are not available until autumn 2027. Placements at Woodlands are made through the council’s SEND service as part of the EHC plan process, not through the normal secondary school application.
- If you live near Kestrel Way, expect construction traffic until the building opens. The finished site has its own 60-space car park.
- If you want to see the plans, search the council’s planning register for 24/00054/REG3. The approved drawings and the condition decisions are all published there.
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