A SCHOOLBOY with severe learning difficulties is struggling in a mainstream primary after being denied a place at a special school.

Nine-year-old Joel Wright spends his school days with a one-to-one teaching assistant and goes home early each day.

He cannot read or write, has the learning age of a nursery child, and his headteacher says he has considerable difficulties coping in a large primary school.

However, Worcestershire County Council says there are no places for him at Fort Royal Community Primary School, Worcester, which caters for children with special needs.

Joel is borderline autistic, medicated for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and suffers from complex communication difficulties and severe learning difficulties.

He also has a statement of special educational needs which sets out the special help he should have.

Joel's mother, 37-year-old Karen Workman, of Ramsons Close, Malvern, is desperate for her son to go to a special school.

She said: "I have been fighting with the education for nearly four years now."

"It is disgusting because they say Every child matters', but they are closing the special schools down. Joel is one of the children left in limbo waiting to get kicked out of a mainstream school."

Joel's father, 41-year-old Neal Wright, is concerned about the amount of time being spent deciding his son's fate. He said: "Every day is another day past, you cannot wind back the clock. The further he falls behind the harder it is going to be to catch up."

A spokeswoman for Worcestershire County Council said the possibility of Joel moving to a special school has been considered but there are no places.

She said: "We have been speaking to his parents about the possibility of moving Joel from Grove Primary to Fort Royal. That school has the facilities that are better equipped to cater for his specialist needs.

"At present the school is full, so we have advised the parents to contact the head at Fort Royal to arrange a meeting to look at opportunities to get Joel into the school in the future.

"The school also operates an outreach programme to local mainstream schools and it may be that such provision might be possible in advance of any placement but this can only be determined after the parents have visited."

Your Worcester News asked the county council how places at special schools are decided and how many children are on the waiting list, but it was unable to comment within the deadline given.