Delays in supporting children with special educational needs in England are an “acute problem,” Ofsted’s chief inspector told the BBC.
Half of the local authorities inspected last school year had “significant weaknesses” in their provision for special needs, the regulator said.
Ofsted’s annual report also says child-rearing is being hampered by staff shortages in the wake of the pandemic.
The Ministry of Education said it would come up with improvement plans in 2023.
Ofsted’s annual report, which will be published later, looks back on inspections carried out on providers of social care and children’s education over the past school year.
More than half of the local authorities inspected by the regulator were asked to provide a written statement of “significant weaknesses” in their provision for special needs.
Almost 1.5 million pupils currently have special educational needs or a disability in England, an increase of almost 77,000 since last year.
Around 355,000 of these children have an education, health and care plan (EHC). These plans are legally binding documents to ensure children with the most complex needs receive the support they are entitled to.
It should take a maximum of 20 weeks for local authorities to decide whether to issue an EHC plan after an application has been made by a school or parent.
However, Ofsted says only 60% of all EHC plans are issued within that 20 week limit. Twenty municipalities are particularly slow, as only a third of the plans were issued during this time.
Ofsted Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman told the BBC these delays were her “biggest concern”.
“Childhood is short. A child who obviously has some significant problems, the quicker they can be understood, the quicker the right support can be provided, the greater the chance of minimizing the impact of those problems on that child’s education and their adult life,” she said .
“A prompt answer is the decisive factor for me.”
- Speech delays in children are increasing after lockdowns
- The development of young children is a concern – Ofsted
- Pupils with special needs should be supported earlier
Abi Horsfield’s first application for an EHC plan for her son Casey was denied, despite Casey being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia. She applied again and was eventually successful, but only after waiting about eight months for the process to be completed.
Abi said it was a “really difficult and very emotional process”.
“When you get your rejection letter, it is clear that you are now on your own as a parent, that even if the school originally applied, you have to push it forward as a parent.
“The process needs to be more user-friendly… and there should be support for every child who needs it.”
Ms Spielman said the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Scheme is struggling to cope with increased demand since the pandemic.
“Delays and backlogs have accumulated. It’s difficult to assess children, it’s difficult to get them the right specialist services,” she told the BBC.
“Families are getting frustrated and some of them are turning to private assessments. Schools sometimes fill the gaps from their own budgets with things like speech therapy. It’s a system that’s making a lot of people unhappy right now.”
- recruitment – still a challenge, especially at a young age. There is a shortage of teaching assistants in some schools and a shortage of tutors in colleges
- Covid-related staff absence– a shortage of teachers means that many schools have used their own staff to cover absences
- invite foster parents – The number is at its lowest level in years
- Student absenteeism still high, especially in SEND – one-third of students on EHC plans missed 10% of class last fall semester
- Bad behavior – The report says children are being given part-time schedules as teachers struggle to control bad behavior in the wake of the pandemic, according to Times Radio
Ofsted, together with the Care Quality Commission, is changing the way it audits special education care for local areas from January next year. Ms Spielman said there will be more focus on the experiences of children and young people “to make sure we really crystallize who is responsible, where improvements need to be made – so that there is no uncertainty from those inspections about who needs to do what”.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the government would release updated plans to improve the SEND system early next year.
The Department for Education said it will invest £400million next year in budgets for urgent needs.
A spokesperson added: “We are providing over £30m to train 600 new educational psychologists to help design education, health and care plans, and fund up to 5,000 new early years special needs coordinators.”
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