Leeds City Council pledges to support families after Southway behavioural school announces closure
The school has suffered a period of “sustained losses”
Leeds City Council officials have pledged to support families after the closure of Southway Independent School.
Southway Independent School, located on Middleton Road, Belle Isle, will close its doors for good at the end of the 2025 to 2026 academic year on Friday, July 17 - as exclusively revealed by the YEP yesterday (Thursday, May 28).
Operating as a subsidiary of the Resilience Multi Academy Trust (RMAT), the specialist school is for pupils with behavioural, social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) difficulties who are at risk of being permanently excluded from their mainstream school.
In a statement, the trust confirmed that the decision was made following a meeting of the school’s directors on May 22 and now Leeds City Council has pledged to support any families displaced by the closure.
An authority spokesperson said: “The council is aware of the intention to close Southway Independent School, which provides alternative provision for children from local schools, and we appreciate the impact this will have on the school community.
“Local authorities have a limited role in the independent school sector, however we will continue to liaise with the Resilience Multi Academy Trust, and the schools and Area Inclusion Partnerships who currently commission places at Southway for their pupils, to ensure all students have an appropriate education offer.”
After full consideration, the Directors of Southway took the decision to close the school after current student numbers and confirmed commissioning did not provide a “viable or sustainable funding position” beyond August 2026.
The school is currently operating significantly below its planned capacity, with sustained losses driven by a model that relies on variable, attendance-based income.
During the consultation period, the YEP understands that a number of alternative options were explored, including restructuring the provision, reducing the number of places, or pursuing partnership or transfer arrangements. However, none of these options were deemed to be financially sustainable.
Where possible, to avoid redundancies, the Resilience Multi Academy Trust, which is the sole shareholder in Southway School Limited, will seek to redeploy staff elsewhere in the trust’s portfolio of schools.
A trust spokesperson said: “The Directors have recognised concerns about the impact on young people who attend Southway particularly those with SEMH needs. They will remain our highest priority through to closure.
“We have put in a structured transition plan which will include close working with commissioning partners and receiving schools, safeguarding oversight for all vulnerable students, ensuring exams continue for Year 11 students and ongoing communication with families.”
The Directors of Southway are clear that the decision does not reflect the quality of the work at Southway. The impact achieved for students, often in challenging circumstances has been widely recognised. The decision to close has been driven by financial sustainability, not performance.
They are hopeful that the timing of the decision will provide clarity to staff and allow the school to focus on a managed and safe transition to the end of the academic year.
Southway, which provides places for children in KS3 and KS4, is the third independent or private school to close in Leeds in the past 18 months - following the closures of Fulneck School and Moorlands School.