"Compromised" plans to build a new alternative provision school in Warwick are shrouded in uncertainty. 

An update for Warwickshire County Council's children & young people's overview & scrutiny committee this week revealed that Talenton Academy, a new free school for up to 60 secondary students in Warwick which was due to open in September 2025, will be at least a year behind schedule. 

The report said the county council – responsible for education in the area – is "awaiting notification on progress" from the Department for Education (DfE), the national body that is funding and delivering the project.

However, the county's director of education Johnny Kyriacou told councillors on the committee that the authority is "not sure what is going to happen to that project" having received "no further update in recent times". 

Alternative provision is for students who are unable to attend mainstream school due to factors including exclusion, health needs, behaviour or other needs, including some special education needs and disabilities (SEND).

It can be provided through a number of different settings such as pupil referral units, further education colleges, sixth form centres and special schools.

Alternative provision is generally considered a short-term intervention with Mr Kyriacou noting that the 60-place permanent setting would in effect equate to help for "around 180" students.

"It is not one fixed place, young people who come in are then integrated back into mainstream places," he said. 

He said the hold-ups were "pretty much out of our hands" because of it being a DfE project but added: "We need those places because we don't have an alternative provision school in the county.

"We rely on providers that are not schools and cannot necessarily provide full-time education. 

"We are trying to mitigate that as a department by looking at alternative strategies and ways of doing things, for example setting up a pod in the north of the county to provide around 16 places. We have got schools together to look at that.

"We have brought in the Solihull Academy Trust, which was going to open Talenton, to support us with the provision of the pod."

However, the news was not so good on the project itself.

"At the moment they are saying possibly 2026 but with the current climate and the new administration (government) nationally, we are not sure what is going to happen to that project," said Mr Kyriacou. 

"We will keep you posted but we have had no further update in recent times." 

It is a meaningful setback for the county council because it has to arrange and provide education for children requiring alternative provision, sometimes at short notice, particularly in instances where children have been excluded from mainstream settings. 

The report added that "commissioning arrangements will continue to ensure provision is available where required until the school is open".