Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Who are children with SEND?

From Clause 20, Children and Families Act 2014:-

"A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.

A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:-

a) has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age; or

b) has a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream school or mainstream post-16 institutions.

A child under compulsory school age has special educational needs if they fall within definition at a) or b) above or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them."

Statutory guidance is set out in a SEND Code of Practice 0-25 years (January 2015). The Code introduced new classifications of SEN Support and Education, Health and Care (EHC). 2014/15 was the start of a transitionary period leading to the national phasing out of School Action, School Action Plus and Statements of SEND. Please also note the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014.

A new SEND Strategy for Somerset, covering the period 2016-2019, is available here to read and download. 

In summary:

• In January 2017, Somerset had just under 12,000 children and young people with identified Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
• 15.4% of all children in Somerset schools, including free and independent schools, have identified SEND. This proportion is slightly above regional (15.2%) and national (14.4%) averages.
• In state-funded primary, secondary and special schools, the January 2017 School Census identified 9,820 pupils with SEND, representing 14.2% of all pupils. This proportion is marginally below regional and national averages (15.0% and 14.3%, respectively)
• In total, 1,368 Somerset pupils have a Statement of SEND or an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, representing 1.8% of all pupils (England 2.8%).
• Male learners are twice as likely as females to have special educational needs.
• Pupils with SEND are more than twice as likely as those without SEND to be eligible for free school meals.
• Somerset shows a higher level of need for social, emotional and mental health compared to the England average.
• Somerset has a relatively low level of identified need for autistic spectrum disorder and moderate learning difficulties.
• The county experiences a lower statement/EHC Plan rate, with a high number of children/young people receiving high needs funding without a statement/EHC Plan.
• In 2015/16, 1 in 10 young people aged 16-17 in Somerset with SEND did not remain in education or training after key stage 4.
• Preparation for adulthood is a key concern: the percentage of young people qualified at level 2 or 3 at 19 years is consistently lower, on average, for SEND pupils than their peers.

Note: numbers of pupils are based on where the child attends school.

Current Demand in Somerset

• There are just under 12,000 pupils with any SEND in Somerset, including those in free schools and independent schools (see Table 1).
• Somerset has a range of such schools, including a number of specialist SEND independent schools which draw in pupils from outside the county.
• In the state-funded sector, there were 9,820 pupils with any SEND.
• The majority of state school learners with Statements or EHC Plans are in Special schools whilst the majority of those with SEN Support but withoutStatements or EHCPs are in Primary schools.

Table 1: Number of Pupils in Somerset with Special Educational Needs

Source: Department for Education, School Census January 2017

• 15.4% of all Somerset school pupils have Special Educational Needs (SEND), slightly above the national average (Table 2).
• In state-funded schools, the proportion is 14.2%, in line with the England figure.

Table 2: SEND Comparisons between Somerset, South West and England (% of all pupils, 2017)

Source: Department for Education, School Census January 2017

• Boys are twice as likely as girls to receive any SEN (Table 3)
• Pupils with SEN in Somerset are more than twice as likely as those without SEN to be eligible for free school meals (Table 4)

Table 3: % of Boys and Girls with SEN, Somerset v England (state schools 2017)

Table 4: % Eligiblity for Free School Meals, Somerset v England (state schools 2017)

Primary Needs

In this section, the different types of primary needs are referred to using the following notation:-

• Across all state-funded schools in Somerset, the two most common primary needs for any SEN are: Social, Emotional & Mental Health; and Speech, Language & Communications Need (chart 1).
• Speech, Language and Communications need is the most common primary need in Primary schools
• Specific Learning Difficulty is the most common primary need in Secondary schools
• Severe Learning Difficulty is the most common primary need in Special schools.

Chart 1: Breakdown of SEN Primary Needs by type of School, Somerset (2017)

Source: Department for Education, School Census January 2017. Other comprises: Other Difficulty/Disability; SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need.

• Somerset has a relatively high level of identification for Social, emotional & mental health and for Specific learning difficulties relative to England (chart 2).
• Somerset has a relatively low level of identification for Autistic spectrum disorder and Moderate learning difficulties. 

Chart 2: Comparison of Primary Need Prevalence, All state-funded schools, Somerset v England (2017)

Source: Department for Education, School Census January 2017

Parental Needs

• Many children with SEND in Somerset are educated in independent and other schools outside the local community.
• This results in considerable travelling time for the child and transport costs for the Council
• In consultation, many parents have requested more SEN support in mainstream schools to enable education nearer home.

Inequalities

• Many children are excluded from social activities in some 'universal' services in their local community.
• At 16, many children with special educational needs and disabilities don't have the same opportunities as other young people to continue learning or training or accessing employment
• 89% of Somerset pupils with SEN were in sustained education, employment or training after completing key stage 4 (age 16-17), compared to 95% of non-SEN pupils (representing 2015/16 destinations of the 2014/15 cohort). (source: DfE)
• In 2016, 62% of 19 year-olds in Somerset with SEN (as recorded in Year 11) were qualified to at least Level 2, compared to 91% of pupils with no identified SEN.
• In 2016, 24% of 19 year-olds in Somerset with SEN were qualified to at least Level 3, compared to 63% of pupils with no identified SEN. (source: DfE)

Further Information:

• Detailed figures on SEN by Local Authority are available on the Department for Education website
• For information about the attainment and achievementof pupils with special educational needs see our School Attainment
• For maps showing rates of SEND by Ward, please see our Dashboard.
• For other information relating to children and young people, including the Somerset Children and Young People Plan, please go here.