Education Today Education Today Magazine
Updated guidance for the 2026 to 2027 notional SEN budget has brought renewed attention to how mainstream schools support pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
The notional SEN budget is not a new or ring-fenced pot of funding. Instead, it identifies an amount within a mainstream school’s overall budget that can help schools plan how they meet additional needs. The latest guidance also reflects the wider direction of SEND reform towards creating mainstream environments that are more inclusive of children and young people who need SEND provision.
That raises a broader question for headteachers, SENCOs and school business managers. As well as considering the support provided directly to individual pupils, are there barriers within the school environment itself that could be reduced?
The physical classroom is an important part of that conversation. Acoustics, lighting, layout, visual stimulation and access to quieter areas can all influence how comfortable and accessible a learning environment feels.
When the Classroom Makes Listening Harder
Most classrooms contain hard, durable surfaces such as floors, windows, whiteboards and solid furniture. These are practical, but they also reflect sound back into the room.
When reflected sound remains in a space for too long, successive words and noises begin to overlap. This is known as reverberation, and excessive reverberation can reduce speech clarity and make general classroom noise linger.
A classroom can therefore be difficult to listen in for two reasons: the amount of noise being generated and the way the room itself responds to that noise.
Poor acoustic conditions can affect everyone, but they may create greater barriers for pupils who already find listening, communication or sensory regulation more difficult. This can include pupils with hearing impairment, speech, language and communication needs, auditory processing difficulties and some pupils with heightened sensitivity to sound.
The key point is not that SEND pupils all experience sound in the same way, but that poor acoustics can make an already demanding listening task harder.
Why Acoustics Matter in Everyday Learning
Speech sits at the heart of most classroom learning. Teachers give verbal instructions, pupils contribute to discussions and much of the school day depends on children being able to separate relevant speech from competing sound.
When reverberation is excessive, pupils may need to work harder to follow what is being said, particularly when several people are speaking or there is background activity elsewhere in the room.
For pupils with sensory sensitivities, noisy and reverberant spaces can also add to the overall demands of the school day.
The same issue is not limited to classrooms. Dining halls, corridors, multipurpose spaces and other busy areas can become particularly challenging where high occupancy and hard finishes combine.
Acoustics Are Already Part of School Design Standards
Acoustic quality in schools is not simply a matter of preference.
Building Bulletin 93, sets out the Department for Education’s acoustic performance standards and guidance for school buildings. This includes criteria relating to reverberation and specific consideration for pupils with special hearing or communication needs.
The principle is straightforward: pupils need an appropriate acoustic environment in order to communicate and learn effectively.
Many existing classrooms, however, were built before today’s expectations around inclusive learning environments. That means schools may need to consider whether the characteristics of an existing space are creating unnecessary barriers.
Looking Beyond Individual Support
SEND provision understandably focuses heavily on individual support, whether through additional staff, specialist resources or targeted interventions.
These remain important, but schools can also ask whether changes to the wider environment could benefit several pupils at once.
The latest notional SEN budget guidance is relevant here because it encourages consideration of the resources needed to provide an inclusive environment alongside more specialist support.
That does not mean every classroom needs major refurbishment. In some cases, relatively targeted changes to acoustics, lighting, layout or visual stimulation can make a meaningful difference to how usable a space feels.
Improving Acoustics in Existing Classrooms
Where excessive reverberation is identified, additional sound absorption can often be introduced without changing how the room is fundamentally used.
Ceilings are often a cost- effective place for acoustic treatment because they provide a large surface area away from everyday classroom activity. Wall-mounted solutions, such as fabric-wrapped acoustic panels, can also be used where appropriate, helping to introduce quality sound absorption without making the space feel overly clinical or specialised.
The right approach will depend on the room itself, including its size, shape, existing finishes and available wall and ceiling space.
Acoustic treatments can be incorporated into existing classrooms without making the space feel clinical or specialised. Fabric finishes, colours and panel layouts can be chosen to complement the room while still providing the sound absorption needed.
Assess Before Investing
One of the easiest mistakes to make is treating classroom acoustics as a matter of simply adding a few panels and hoping for an improvement.
Too little absorption may make very little difference, while specifying more than is needed is an inefficient use of school budgets.
A better approach is to assess the characteristics of the room first. Its dimensions, existing materials and intended use all influence the outcome.
Reverberation can be estimated through acoustic modelling or measured on site where appropriate. This gives schools a clearer basis for deciding how much treatment is needed and what level of improvement is realistic.
The useful starting question is therefore not simply, “How many acoustic panels do we need?” but, “What acoustic problem are we trying to solve?”
Creating Environments That Remove Barriers
The wider discussion around SEND funding should not only be about how individual pupils can be supported within existing environments. It should also consider whether reasonable changes to those environments can remove barriers in the first place.
For some schools, acoustics will be part of that conversation. For others, lighting, layout or access to quieter areas may take priority.
The important principle is to look at the environment from the perspective of the pupils using it, rather than assuming that a space that works adequately for most pupils works equally well for everyone.
Where acoustics are suspected to be contributing to the problem, a professional assessment can help schools understand the existing conditions and whether treatment is needed. Koru Acoustics works with schools to assess, design and install acoustic treatment around the requirements of existing learning spaces.
As mainstream schools become more inclusive, it is important to consider the environment pupils learn in. Making classrooms easier to hear, understand and feel comfortable in can remove barriers and benefit every pupil.
