A special needs school is set to officially shut at the end of the year, ending a near year-long process of closing.

Homewood College will officially close at the end of November after councillors agreed on proposed plans from last month to officially wind-up the Moulsecoomb school.

Pupils had already been moved to other schools at the beginning of the school year in September after the college failed to come out of special measures, having been rated inadequate by Ofsted for nearly three years.

Brighton and Hove City Council deputy leader Jacob Taylor said : “We are committed to building a better future for children and young people in Brighton and Hove. We have a duty of care to ensure that all of our children and young people receive a good quality education that meets their social, emotional and mental health needs.

“Despite the tireless efforts of school leaders and staff to improve Homewood College, the school was unable to make sufficient progress. As such, we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close Homewood College.

“Throughout this process we’ve worked closely with parents and carers of children who attended the school, and I’m pleased to report that all former pupils are now attending new placements that better meet their needs.”

The school in Queensdown School Road, Brighton, suffered from “stubbornly poor” attendance and high staff turnover. It had “unsettled the school community”, an Ofsted report found.

And at the end of the 2023-24 financial year, at the end of March, the school had a £709,000 deficit.

Before the closure process started, the school took 40 to 50 pupils a year, with social, emotional and mental health needs.

A council spokesman said the Department of Education had rescinded an academy order for the school, issued in February 2022 in a bid to identify a sponsor for the school.

The order being revoked is the final road block in the way of officially closing the school. The council’s cabinet officially agreed to close the school at a meeting on November 14.