New data shows Increase in pupils with SEN and EHC plans

The Department for Education (DfE) have published the statistical release of data for SEN for 2020 and they make for interesting reading. The highlights are:

Overall figures:

• The number of pupils recognised with SEN increased to 15.5% of the total school population (1.37 million pupils). This is the third year in a row that it has increased. 
• 8% of children in the UK had a disability (around 1.1 million children), the most common impairments are social and behavioural (45%), learning (35%) and mental health (31%).
• The most prevalent need remains ‘Speech, language and communication needs’ with 21.9% of pupils with an SEN having this as their primary need.

Genders not equally represented:

• More boys than girls had a recognised SEN, with 15.2% of boys and 8.7% of girls receiving SEN support and 4.8% of boys and 1.8% of girls having an EHCP, raising important questions around whether needs are being effectively recognised in girls. 

Demographic skews:

• 30.9% of pupils with special educational needs were eligible for free school meals in January 2020 compared to 14.9% of pupils without special educational needs.
• 55.7% of children who had been looked after continuously for 12 months had SEN. The most common type of need for all looked after children at 31 March 2020 was ‘Social, Emotional and Mental Health’.

Preparing for adulthood:

• 88.5% of 16-17 year olds with an EHC plan were in education and training in March 2020 compared with 93.2% of those without SEN.
• 5.6% of adults with learning disabilities aged 18-64 who were receiving support from social services were in paid employment, compared to 5.9% in the previous year.

Exclusions and barriers to school attendence:

• 24.6% of pupils with EHC plans were persistent absentees compared to 17.9% for pupils with SEN support and 9.0% for pupils without SEN.
• Pupils with primary type of need ‘Social, emotional and mental health’ (SEMH) had the highest permanent exclusion rate in 2018/19 at 0.92%.

Data around Education, Health and Care plans was also separately released, headlines are:

• All statements have now been converted so that all pupils that are eligible have an EHC plan.
• The total number of EHC plans has increased by 10% to 430,697.
• The number of new EHC plans issued in the calendar year has increased by 11% to 60,097.
• The age range 20 to 25 years saw the biggest increase (0.4%) in plans over the year. 
• Only 58% of new EHC plans were issued within 20 weeks, a drop on the previous year. 
• Initial requests for an EHC plan dropped by 10% to 75,951 for the first time since EHC plans were introduced.