British Journal of Special Education

This reports observes the distribution of statemented SEN placements in secondary schools, and how this varies across academies (both "sponsored" - often failing schools that are coerced into the academy model - and "converter" academies - those that chose to convert towards an academy system), mainstream schools, technical colleges and the newly created free schools. Brahm Norwich and Alison Black assess the enrolment data for both the 2013/4 and the 2014/5 academic years.

They find that converter academies possess a markedly smaller percentage of statemented students versus sponsored academies or schools still under local authority control. Sporadically, free schools can sometimes possess unusually large numbers of statemented students, which is something Norwich and Black discuss in relation to the observed greater likelihood of inclusiveness in smaller schools.

Authors: Brahm Norwich and Alison Black, Article first published online: 3 JUN 2015

Publisher: Wiley Online Library. [Awaiting opening, please check back soon!]
Volume 42, Issue 2, pages 128–151, June 2015

Read the article abstract here.