SEND | Schools Week

Private special school places cost £480 million per year

A lack of state-funded places is forcing councils to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to send pupils to independent special schools. Councils sent up to triple the number of SEND pupils to independent special schools last year compared with six years ago, Schools Week can exclusively reveal. Councils blame the shift on a lack […]

An autism diagnosis doesn’t mean other special needs are being missed

An autism diagnosis doesn’t mean other special needs are being missed – it’s just the first step in the process, says Malcolm Reeve. Between 2010 and 2016 the number of children with autism in schools in England nearly doubled. The percentage in secondary schools increased markedly, even more in special schools. The broad SEN area […]

Autism diagnosis can cause other special needs to be ‘neglected’

Schools are struggling to support the rising numbers of pupils diagnosed with autism because the label means other learning needs can be “neglected”, parents and experts have told Schools Week. The latest Department for Education (DfE) data shows a 25 per cent increase in autism diagnoses over the past four years. However, experts say the […]

How SEND became a headline issue in 2016

There have been a few low points, but champions for pupils with SEND still emerged this year, says Anita Kerwin Nye. Many of the same variables have impacted learners with special needs in 2016 as other children: system restructure; the downplaying of lower-level and non EBacc qualifications; teacher recruitment and austerity. But for young people […]

Half of new special free schools specialise in autism

Autism-specific schools make up almost half of all special needs free schools. The “more complex” requirements of autistic pupils compared with other special needs have led to high exclusion rates and a rising demand for specialised school places, experts told Schools Week. Of the 44 special needs free schools set to open or already opened […]

Councils face £600m blackhole in special needs funding

More than half a billion pounds must be found by 2025 to top up an already unsustainable special needs budget and fund an “unprecedented” demand of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. A Schools Week investigation has found scores of councils proposing top slicing from other school funding pots to recoup multi-million pound shortfalls in […]

Schools struggle as autism diagnoses rise 25 per cent

Schools are “struggling” to provide for autistic pupils following a 25 per cent increase in autism diagnoses in the past four years, according to government data and local area inspection letters. The first published inspections of councils’ “local offers” for special education needs and disability (SEND) provision warn of rising autism referrals and lengthy waits […]

Schools struggle with rise in special provision requests

The Exams Officers’ Association (EOA) is pushing for a consultation with Ofqual to review exam access for students with a learning disability or difficulty. It follows association research that found school staff struggling to cope with a rising number of requests for special provision. Andrew Harland, chief executive of the EOA, said the rise was […]

RSC boards won’t guarantee SEND and post-16 inclusion, says DfE

Schools commissioners will not create additional spaces on their advisory boards for members from post-16 or special needs settings, but will be expected to consult experts when making decisions about them. Schools Week understands the eight regional schools commissioners (RSCs) are in talks over improved access to specialists who will “offer specific advice when they […]