Internationally, there is a strong push to include learners with additional needs in mainstream classrooms. In some Western countries (e.g., Italy, and New Brunswick, Canada), there are no special school options for educating students with additional needs, as most of them are educated in mainstream schools (Aiello & Pace, 2020; Porter & Towell, 2017). In many other countries (e.g. Australia), there is also a similar push towards closing down special schools (Mann et al., 2024). The push to close down special schools and enroll all children with additional needs in mainstream schools is largely driven by inclusion proponents who argue that learners with additional needs have the right to be educated in the same settings as their peers. The push, to some extent, is also supported by research findings that suggest that placement in inclusive schools results in better academic, social and psychological outcomes for learners with additional needs when compared to their counterparts who are educated in special schools (Hehir et al., 2016). Surprisingly, the voices of significant stakeholders (i.e. parents/carers) have not been considered when making decisions about whether special or inclusive schools are better for the education of their children, despite numerous calls from researchers to examine parental/carer perspectives about their child’s education (Gasteiger-Klicpera et al., 2013; Olson et al., 2012). It is in this context that the current study was conducted. A key objective of this study was to examine parental perceptions about the education of their child in mainstream versus special schools. The participants in this study were 2773 parents/carers from nine countries (Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy, Norway, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates). They completed an online questionnaire using Parental Perceptions about Inclusive Education Climate scale (Sharma et al., 2022) which measured their perception/satisfaction with the education of their child. The data from the study showed an interesting trend globally. In almost all countries (except UAE and India), parents of children who were attending special schools tended to have more positive perceptions of their child’s education compared to parents of children who were attending mainstream schools. The differences were significant for UK (F(5,260) = 14.05, p<0.01)) and Norway (F(5, 833) = 28.35, p<0.01)) participants. Parents globally clearly find some aspects of schooling in special schools helpful for their children. The implications of this research for policymakers, researchers, and school educators will be discussed in greater detail during the presentation.