Special needs boy 'let down' by school

A teenager described as "intellectually very bright" was restricted to just one day a week's schooling in the year before his GCSEs because both his school and local authority failed to cope with his special needs, according to a local government watchdog's report published today .

The boy, who was diagnosed with behavioural problems shortly after starting school, was sent home for most of his last three years of high school but not formally excluded.

It meant his mother could not appeal against its decision or seek an alternative school.

Stockport Council has now been found guilty of maladministration for failing to ensure he had an adequate education. A spokesman said the council had accepted the recommendation of the local government ombudsma, Anne Seex, that it pay his mother £1,000 for the distress caused and pay the boy the equivalent of three years' wages for a 16 or 17-year-old to fund his way through college.