Former X Factor star Sam Bailey says she has been “stuck at home” with her son Tommy - who has autism - since July last year due to a “broken” education system.
The 2013 ITV talent show winner says her son has been living at home in his pyjamas with “hardly any education” for an entire year.
The mum-of-three today told Loose Women panellists Ruth Langsford, Gloria Hunniford, Brenda Edwards and Jane Moore about her year of battling to get her son in school.
Tommy was diagnosed with autism and dyspraxia in 2020 after she and husband Craig Pearson got him assessed after noticing he was “different” to other children.
“He’s been off school since July last year, so no school,” she said. “He’s been living at home in his pyjamas for a year with hardly any education.”
Sounding exhausted, she said: “The year that I’ve had, the system is so broken.”
Sam explained that Tommy couldn’t continue going through mainstream education and that he needed to be in a special school.
She added: “Because he’s autistic he can’t go to a mainstream school because they can’t meet his needs.”
A lack of funding meant Tommy couldn’t attend a school specially designed for children with special educational needs.
Sam added: “I was stuck with him at home because they wouldn’t give me the funding for him to go to a special school.”
The singer has recently been touring the West End as Mrs Potts in the Beauty and the Beast musical, but says in between shows she has been trying everything to get Tommy into a special school.
“I’ve been on the phone, emails, I’ve gone through six case managers. I’ve talked to MPs and I’ve talked to parents.
“There are so many people out there that are doing the same as me, struggling.
“There children are at home because they can't go to school, there's not enough schools.
“I’ve fought, I’ve banged tables and not everybody can do this.”
Ruth replied with a potential ray of hope, she said: “They are saying that the government is investing £2.6 billion to create tens of thousands of new places for children with special education needs over the next three years.”
Sam welcomed the good news and also shared some of her own that she thinks they’ve now managed to sort Tommy’s schooling situation out.
“It has been so hard and if it's been hard for me, it's been hard for others.
“He has now managed to get into a school, he starts in September but we just don’t know which one yet.”
