A South London council will shut a residential school described as a lifeline for autistic children next month, despite last-ditch pleas to save it. Wandsworth Council's cabinet agreed to close Bradstow School in Kent after hearing this was the "only option" left due to its financial challenges.

The council had delayed shutting the school to allow governors more time to secure its future by turning it into an academy, but the Department for Education (DfE) rejected these plans and advised the authority to move ahead with closure. Council officers recommended its closure after completing a public consultation in September, which the cabinet agreed on Monday (November 3).

Polly Benton, Bradstow's business manager, claimed the school would have been financially viable if it had been allowed

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