Research and analysis

Supporting SEND: a summary for children and young people

Updated 13 May 2021

Applies to England

We have published research into the experiences of 21 children in English schools.

This is a summary of the research for children and young people.

Background

There are roughly 1.4 million children with a special educational need (SEN) in England. Many children and young people who have a SEN may also have a disability (SEND). Schools must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for disabled children so that they are not left out of education.

It is really important to identify special educational needs as early as possible. One problem is that professionals across the country assess and identify needs in many different ways.

Most pupils who are identified as having a special educational need are classed as requiring ‘SEN support’. This support is usually given by schools. However, pupils with more significant or complex needs should hold an education, health and care (EHC) plan. An EHC plan is a legal document that details the support a pupil or young person needs to succeed.

Ofsted looks at SEND services through:

• inspecting education, health and social care providers (with the Care Quality Commission)
• early years, school and college inspections, where we ask how staff identify, assess and meet the needs of pupils with SEND
• inspections of local authority services for children (ILACS).

We are worried about how the SEND system is working. It is very important that we understand as much as we can to continue to inspect well and help services improve.

How we did this research

We wanted to understand what the experiences are like for children and young people with SEND in mainstream schools. We asked 2 questions for this research:

1. How are the needs of children and young people met in mainstream schools?

2. To what extent does the approach schools take to identifying, assessing and meeting these needs vary between schools?

We looked at the experiences of 21 pupils from 7 different mainstream primary and secondary schools. The pupils represented a wide range of different types of special educational needs or disability.

We spoke to:

• the pupils
• their parents or carers
• their teachers and support staff
• the school headteachers and SENCos
• staff from the 2 local authorities and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).

Things to know about the research

We only looked at a very small number of pupils. Other pupils with SEND across the country might have different experiences. But we can get some understanding about the things that affect the experiences of pupils with SEND in mainstream schools.

The pupils were selected by their schools. We asked schools to select pupils who:

• would not find it difficult to discuss their lives with unfamiliar adults
• had different characteristics like gender, age and their types of need to each other.

What we found

Schools often made sure that they put the pupil first when they were identifying the pupil’s needs and planning. But staff did not always know the pupils enough to do this well.

Staff in schools tried to understand the pupils and their needs. They know how important positive relationships and high expectations are for pupils with SEND. They focused on pupils’ strengths to build confidence and independence. Some made sure pupils felt included.

But there were gaps in understanding of pupils’ needs and starting points. This led to some pupils with SEND having negative learning and development experiences. In our sample, this was more the case for children without EHC plans or who were less well known to their SENCos.

Pupils with SEND regularly spent time out of class working with teaching assistants (TAs). But this might mean that they are left out and rely too much on a single adult.

Almost all pupils who took part in the research, including those on SEND support, had TAs allocated to them.

Often, the pupils were taken out of the classroom for intervention activities. This meant that they were spending curriculum time with TAs rather than teachers. It also means that they are missing learning opportunities. Some were missing whole chunks of what the rest of their class was learning. This means that they might not be getting all the high-quality teaching that they need to have a chance of succeeding. It also means that what they are being taught does not have the same ambition for them.

As TAs play such an important role in the education of children and young people with SEND, it is vital that they have good curriculum knowledge. It is important that they get support from teachers and access to the right training to help build their subject expertise.

Most parents and carers were very positive about the reassurance and help with learning that TAs gave their children. However, some were worried about the amount of time their child spent out of class in small groups or individual interventions.

Schools were not always teaching a curriculum in the right order. Some did not match the curriculum to the needs of pupils with SEND.

A few parents and school staff thought that pupils were being taught curriculum content that they could not easily access. These pupils had missed learning when they were younger, or had not had their needs met. This meant that they did not have the knowledge and skills they should have had to understand all the content. They were also not always given the chance to master basics before being moved forwards.

This again shows how important it is that teachers, TAs and SENCos have strong subject knowledge. With this, they can understand how best to develop and teach the curriculum to support pupils with SEND.

It is also important that schools teach the curriculum in the right order so that pupils with SEND can master what they most need to know before moving on.

When professionals and families work well together, schools are more able to meet pupils’ needs

Some schools developed positive and trusting relationships with parents and carers. These schools worked with parents and carers to create plans for the pupils. Schools used the information that parents shared to more accurately identify their needs.

Some schools encouraged families to communicate information through both formal and informal channels. Parents and carers in these schools felt well supported by individual members of staff.

While parents and carers were involved in making decisions for their child’s needs, others felt that schools did not give them enough information about their child’s learning and development. In some cases, pupils did not have written support plans at all.

A few parents and carers did not take up opportunities that schools offered them to be involved.

School SENCos were essential in working with everyone involved to make sure provision was agreed and delivered. But they face a range of challenges in this role.

SENCos played a crucial role bringing together external agencies, schools and families. Strong and trusting relationships between SENCos, parents and carers helped this. But some SENCos felt they did not have enough time to do all this and access the training that they need to keep up to date.

Some SENCos were doing the role on top of being a full-time class teacher. This suggests that the SENCo role is not enough of a priority in some schools.

Some SENCos had to deal with delays and processes that were too complicated. This was the case with both referrals and EHC plan assessments. These prevented the SENCos from being able to do their role as well as they wanted to.

Schools used a range of strategies designed to meet individual pupils’ needs. These were sometimes supported by multi-agency services.

Schools made adjustments so that they could support pupils socially and emotionally. A lot of these adjustments were subject-specific. This helped pupils to take part in the curriculum. Also important were access to quiet spaces and strong communication at transition points.

Specialised support from multi-agency services added to the help that schools gave. Families and staff valued this input from multi-agency services.

But some pupils were not receiving the help they needed, even when multi-agency services were involved.

Local authorities had strong ambitions for how they could collaborate with other agencies. But this did not always happen in practice.

Some schools and families experienced long delays. These mean that pupils with SEND spend too much time in lessons that are not helpful for them.

Some pupils received support from external services, but not always as much as they needed .

Some families and schools felt that some pupils did not have access to the full range of practitioners needed. For some as well, help was not available when they needed it. In some cases, this led to pupils’ targets and support plans being out of date. Their needs were therefore unmet.

Occasionally, families decided to look for or pay for services themselves. This was because they were experiencing too much delay from external services. A full range of multi-agency expertise is crucial for planning and providing to meet pupil needs.

Summary

This research raises questions about what ‘success’ looks like in terms of supporting children with SEND in mainstream schools.

Even though the numbers in this research are small, it gives some idea of what individual pupils with SEND experience. It shows how their needs were identified and the support that was or was not put in place to allow them to learn and participate in school life.

It highlights how difficult it is to say what ‘success’ looks like in supporting pupils with SEND in mainstream schools.

The very different experiences of pupils in this report, even when they had a similar identified need, suggests that the SEND system relies on individuals performing important roles well and working together effectively.

For the full report, including many quotes from the children and adults we spoke to, visit Supporting SEND.