Children with SEN accessing Early Years rises to all time high
The percentage of children registered for the 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements who have SEN has increased across all age groups, with the latest figures being the highest in each series. These findings are consistent with the most recent Special educational needs in England statistics, which show a trend of increases in recent years.
Table 2: Percentage of children registered for funded entitlements with special educational needs (SEN)
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |||
| 15-hour entitlement | Total | 2-year-olds | 3.5% | 3.5% | 4.1% | 4.9% |
| 15-hour entitlement | Total | 3 and 4-year-olds | 6.6% | 6.3% | 7.0% | 8.0% |
| 30-hour entitlement | Total | 2-year-olds | z | z | z | z |
| 30-hour entitlement | Total | 3 and 4-year-olds | 3.0% | 2.8% | 3.3% | 4.1% |
The number of 3 and 4-year-olds with an education, health and care (EHC) plan rose by almost a third between 2020 (11,600) and 2023 (15,400), and again the latest figure was the highest in the series. SEN was twice as common amongst 3 and 4-year-olds registered for the 15-hour entitlement than the 30-hour entitlement (8% compared with 4%). This reflects that children with SEN are less likely to be registered for the 30-hour entitlement than those without SEN.
nasen is aware of the increase and has produced a CPD package for Local Authorities, ‘The Golden Key’, to inform, upskill, and empower early years staff within your local authority to make a positive impact for children and young people with SEND. nasen’s Golden Key programme is an online training programme of eight, live, interactive webinars for practitioners currently in the role of the Key Person in PVI and maintained school settings. It’s perfect for those seeking to develop their knowledge, skills, and confidence in working with young children with SEND, so that they can feel confident in implementing the graduated approach (assess, plan, do, review) in accordance with the SEND Code of Practice 2015.
