A new government-commissioned survey of teaching staff has unwittingly offered a telling explanation of why so many children get inadequate support with SEND in school.
But first, in related news, the latest SEND tribunal statistics show a massive 78% increase in appeals compared to the same quarter last year. The Tribunal recorded 5,800 appeals between April-June 2024, the biggest quarterly increase ever.
The Tribunal is also working harder than ever to complete Tribunals, with 4,600 appeals (46%) “disposed of”—either concluded or withdrawn- but this still leaves 9,200 open cases, a 61% increase.
This translates to more children than ever not getting their needs met in school. Their parents then encounter either rejection when they apply for an EHC needs assessment, or they get an EHC Plan they don’t agree with, which can sometimes lead to an appeal.
Before anyone thinks the increase is because parents are just getting more “demanding” or “expecting too much”, the increase is most likely to be a result of unlawful local authority decision-making. This is not just from poor practice, but from LAs trying to limit the number of EHCPs they must provide for. Cost-management schemes such as Safety Valve and Delivering Better Value in SEND, which we have written about extensively, are undoubtedly partially to blame.
Reasons to be cheerful: None
Why are children’s needs increasingly not being met in the classroom? There are any number of reasons – lack of resources, lack of support staff, and an increase in complexity of pupil needs post-pandemic among them.
Which brings me back to the survey of around 2,500 teachers and school leaders participating in a series of School and College Voice (SCV) panels. This one covered September 2023-February/March 2024, a period of five-six months.
As you have come to expect, funding was at the top of the list of concerns. 95% of primary schools say lack of funding for SEND is creating a barrier for effectively meeting the needs of pupils with SEND. 84% of Secondary schools say the same, while 69% in special schools cites funding as a major barrier. (Average 82%)
“Ordinary” SEND Provision in schools
But what about early intervention that everyone knows is vital? What about the (previous) Government’s big plans for “Ordinarily Available Provision” that all schools should be able to provide? What about, as the SEND Code of Practice says, using external specialists at an early stage to determine what is needed for support?
Very surprisingly, a large slice of schools, 41% of secondaries and 15% of primaries said they did not need to access any external support from speech and language, LA-sourced help, occupational therapists, mental health specialists, or education psychologists in the survey period (this is not an exhaustive list- see image).
“The most common response given by secondary school teachers was that they did not need support for pupils with SEND from any of the external services we asked about (41%). The most common support required were mental health services (30%) and an educational psychologist (21%).” School and college voice: February 2024
Given that the figures cover not-quite half a school year, it’s hard to draw firm conclusions as to whether these schools had external input at other times, but this is quite surprising. Could “did not need” actually just be “did not”?
In primaries, no surprise that the most commonly needed services were speech and language therapist (58%), educational psychologist (53%), and local authority education services (32%). But again, given rising levels of EHCPs, it’s surprising that any school hasn’t needed external input. Could these two things, perhaps, be related?
Do children get the support they need?
When a school asks for external specialist help, do they get it? The answer is – not often.
The survey shows 81% of primaries and 83% of secondary leaders cite lack of access to external specialists as a barrier to supporting children with SEND.
- The survey shows only a small minority of primary (23%) and secondary school teachers (16%) were able to access the external support they needed all or most of the time, while in special schools it was a little easier, but still in a minority, at 41%.
- 14% of primary and 15% of secondary school teachers said they were never able to access this external support. These numbers haven’t just suddenly decreased – they were similar in the previous survey showing this is a long-term systemic problem.
A child usually needs some external input if their needs haven’t been adequately helped within the school’s ordinary in-school resources. So what help do teachers need from within the school? This support includes teaching assistants, SENCOs, and safeguarding and mental health leads among others.
- 86% of primary school teachers and 71% of secondary teachers said they’d required support from a SENCO,
- 80% of primary teachers and 74% of secondary teachers required help from teaching assistants
And did they get the help they needed? While internally-sourced help was of course easier to come by, only 69% of primary and 58% of secondary school teachers said they got the help they’d asked for “always or most of the time”. These findings were similar to those from December 2023.
Do schools feel they can support children with SEND?
The survey reports a “large majority” of school leaders (primary 69%; secondary 73%)” feel they can “effectively support” children with SEND. But concerningly, 12% of primary and 10% of secondary leaders “neither agreed nor disagreed”. Does this apparent “fence-sitting” mean they just don’t want to admit they can’t or is it more, “SEND? Meh…“ I’d additionally question whether classroom teachers at the sharp end of supporting children or parents, would have the same response as school leaders.
But what is especially worrying are those schools (primary: 19%; secondary: 17%) that admit they cannot support SEND pupils effectively within their schools. If typical, once extrapolated nationally, it’s one heck of a lot of children whose additional needs are not being properly supported. While a percentage of children have EHCPs (4.8% according to latest statistics), a further 13.6% on SEN Support rely totally on what their schools can provide. Indeed, a chunk of EHCPs will have no additional funding attached and will be dependent on those same resources. Is it any wonder Alternative Provision admissions have risen by 20.3% in the last year for children with SEND, with a 22% rise in children in AP who aren’t on the SEN register (but may subsequently be found to have SEND)
Where’s the OAP?
The government is putting more emphasis on the “Ordinarily Available Provision” that schools must provide from their existing budgets. So the very real risk is that LAs are going to expect schools to provide much more for less money, in an attempt to delay EHC assessments.
Many Tribunal appeals stem from LAs unlawfully declining EHC Needs assessments. I’ve recently seen evidence from one parent of an LA declining what should be a slam-dunk request for a very young child with clear, serious, needs. The LA refused because speech and language recommendations “have not been implemented or measured over an appropriate timescale using the Assess Plan Do Review cycle.” If a setting doesn’t have the resources to do it, yet an LA says it won’t assess unless the setting has jumped through hoops it shouldn’t have to, where does this leave the child? Nowhere does it say in law that any set period of APDR should be carried out before an EHC needs assessment is approved; it’s simply a delaying tactic.
Relying on Ordinarily Available Provision is a red herring, given it’s (supposed to be) paid for by delegated SEND funding in school budgets. That money isn’t separate or ring-fenced and hasn’t had an increase for 20 years, meaning a large real-terms cut.
Where does this leave children?
So, from all this, we can see a thread of not enough money, schools having trouble recruiting (from elsewhere in the survey), and too many schools lacking confidence in their ability to support children with SEND effectively.
Add in LAs insisting schools provide the unaffordable in an attempt to deter EHC assessments, and you are left with a large number of children stuck between a rock and a hard place. No provision, no assessment, less access to learning in mainstream schools – or increasingly, no school that can meet their growing needs.
And what is the new government doing? So far there has been little interaction with the SEND sector. What we have heard from the Labour ministerial team is not promising: an ad nauseum repetition, firstly of the previous government’s “lose, lose, lose” rhetoric and secondly, “ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.” To which I say, tell me you know nothing about disabled children, without saying you know nothing about disabled children…
Also read:
- Browse SNJ by topic
- Should we ‘mind the gap’ of disabled pupils’ attainment? Or is it really an indictment of how success is measured?
- “The curriculum belongs to the nation” Let them know that includes children with special educational needs
- The Ofsted changes are bad news for SEND accountability
- The SEND “Emergency” debate: scrap safety valve, write-off high needs debt and stop piling trauma on to families
- Does the SEND Tribunal have to pay attention to the views, wishes and feelings of the child?
- Scrapping the SEND Tribunal would cover up injustice and no parent of a disabled child will ever support it
- Does the SEND Safety Valve scheme have a future under the Labour Government? And if so, who’s next?
- Parents of disabled children traumatised by the public bodies that should be supporting them
- “Every learner matters and matters equally”. But in England’s education system, do they really?
- 83% educators say SEND learners aren’t effectively supported to achieve, says 2024 Pearson school report
- The nine top asks from SEND organisations for the next government
- 18.4% with SEND in 2024, and girls are increasingly suffering. Plus, a new hot destination for SEND
- Depressingly awful data and our 2024 EHCP Hall of Shame reveal the sad state of disabled children’s education, with growing numbers out of school
What kind of government is “bold” enough to scrap statutory EHCPs from vulnerable children?May 16, 2025
The SEND reforms in the Schools White Paper reveal rights given, and rights stripped awayFebruary 24, 2026
Don’t miss a thing!
Don’t miss any posts from SNJ – simply add your email address below. You must click the link in the confirmation email you’ll receive to activate your free subscription.
You can also keep up with us by following our
Want more? Be an SNJ regular donor!
SNJ is a non-profit and everyone who writes here does so voluntarily. We need your support to help us with costs by donating once or as a regular patron. Find out more here
She is a rare disease & chronic pain patient advocate with Ehlers Danlos syndrome.
- The Unacceptable Truth: 20 SEND legal rights at risk from the Government’s SEND reforms - September 9, 2026
- Dear Secretary of State for Education, Lucy Powell: an Open Letter from Special Needs Jungle and SEND legal charity SOS!SEN - August 4, 2026
- Research: Disabled young people define inclusive education as “learning in the place that’s right for them” - July 30, 2026
Please share this article!
Discover more from Special Needs Jungle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
