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7 hours ago
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Children in England experience huge variations in having their special educational needs identified depending on school type, background and levels of absence, according to research by the Education Policy Institute (EPI).
Parents have long known that access to support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) is a lottery, but the EPI report identifies for the first time particular groups it says are at greater risk of missing out.
It found pupils attending academies – rather than schools maintained by local authorities – or those living in heavily academised areas were less likely to be identified as having special educational needs when compared with other pupils.
The EPI said this may be due to fewer Send pupils enrolling in academies, under-identification, or it could be that academies are successfully meeting needs without formal identification.
Children with language barriers, for whom English is not their first language, are also less likely to be identified with Send, as are those with high levels of sickness absence and frequent school moves, because their needs remain hidden as they are less visible in school.
Girls are less likely than boys to be identified with social, emotional and mental health needs in secondary school, despite similar chances of having a behavioural or emotional disorder, according to the data. The report studied two cohorts, each with 600,000 children, as they passed through primary and secondary school to see who was identified as having special educational needs and who was not.
The EPI also said it had identified “rationing” of support. While children living in deprived neighbourhoods had a substantially higher chance of being identified with Send, even in these areas the least-disadvantaged with parents more able to advocate on their behalf were more likely to be identified.
Jo Hutchinson, the director for Send and additional needs at the EPI, said: “Our research has confirmed the existence of the long-suspected lottery for Send in primary and secondary schools in England and pinpointed several groups of children who are at elevated risk of missing out on support.
“Children whose needs were less visible in school due to frequent absences or school moves, those living in heavily academised areas, the least-advantaged living in areas of high deprivation, and girls with emotional disorders, all faced risks of under-recognition.”
Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “For some years, it has been clear that where many academy schools were refusing admissions of Send students and suggesting ‘needs could be met better elsewhere’, the choice of school and educational opportunity for these students was being denied.
“It is good to see this being highlighted and we want to see the government urgently looking into the reasons why.”
Arooj Shah, the chair of the Local Government Association’s board for children and young people, urged the government to set out its plans for reform of the Send system in its next spending review.
“A key focus of this should be boosting inclusion in mainstream schools, early years settings and colleges, ensuring they have the capacity and expertise to meet the needs of children with Send,” she said.
“Reforms should also include a new national framework for Send and establishment of local inclusion partnerships to enable more effective assessments, commissioning and collaboration between councils, schools and health.”
