SEN legislation, code of practice and associated family of guidance
A Freedom of Information disclosure about SEN assessments received, rejected and referred to appeal.
Documents
Details
- Date requested: 11 October 2010
- Publish date: 30 March 2011
- Updated: 26 April 2012
Request
Can the department provide the following information on:
a. The number of requests for SEN assessments received
b. The number initially rejected
c. The number referred to appeal, and of those, how many were ultimately successful.
Release
In relation to points a) and b), the department collects information on special educational needs through the school census and the SEN2 survey. This information is published on the department’s website.
The department is able to supply information relating to calendar years (we do not collect it by school year) from the SEN2 survey about the number of assessments being made for the first time, and how many pupils did not receive a statement after being assessed, as follows:
2007
- total children assessed for SEN during the calendar year 2007 for whom statements were made: 24,790
- children assessed under Section 323 of the Education Act 1996 during the calendar year 2007 for whom no statement was issued: 1,270
- breakdowns by local authority area are available from the publications section
2008
- total children assessed for SEN during the calendar year 2008 for whom statements were made: 26,520
- children assessed under Section 323 of the Education Act 1996 during the calendar year 2008 for whom no statement was issued: 750
- breakdowns by local authority area are available from the publications section
2009
- total children assessed for SEN during 2009 for whom statements were made: 27,550
- children assessed under Section 323 of the Education Act 1996 during the calendar year 2009 for whom no statement was issued: 1,060
- breakdowns by local authority area are available from the publications section
In relation to point c), information is available for academic years in annual reports published by the First-tier Tribunal, Special Educational Needs. The Tribunal has been part of the Tribunals Service, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, since November 2008. The full reports provide more context. The tables relevant to this request are 1.4, 1.6 and 1.7 in the 2007-08 report and 1.5, 1.7 and 1.8 in the 2008-09 report.
The Tribunal Service Special Educational Needs and Disability annual reports are available on the National Archives website.