Background to the report

Based on an NAO estimate, around 1.9 million children and young people aged 0 to 25 years in England (11%) were identified as having special educational needs (SEN) in January 2024, with 1.7 million at school.

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A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which means they need special educational provision beyond that required by most others of the same age.

The Department for Education (DfE) is accountable to Parliament for the SEN system and alternative provision, alongside securing value for money from the funding it provides, through local authorities, to schools and other education settings.

Local authorities, working with national and local bodies, have a statutory responsibility to ensure children receive the support they need. Health services have a responsibility to provide, when clinically required, medical assessments, routine health checks, and healthcare.

DfE’s dedicated funding for those with greater needs totalled £10.7 billion in 2024-25, with other organisations also using wider funding to support SEN.

Scope of the report

This report assesses how well the current system is delivering for children and young people (from birth to 25 years) in England identified as having SEN. It also looks at DfE’s progress in addressing the underlying challenges to providing a sustainable system that achieves positive outcomes for children.

This report:

  • describes the support available, outcomes achieved for those with SEN, DfE funding, and DfE’s strategic approach
  • examines DfE’s actions to restore confidence and create a sustainable system

Whilst recognising the criticality of other bodies, such as health organisations, within the SEN system the report does not assess how well these other bodies operate. It also does not assess support provided in higher education settings given the different funding and legislative frameworks.

Video summary


Report director, Emma Willson, provides an overview.

Conclusions

Following the Children and Families Act 2014, there have been significant increases in the number of children identified as having SEN, particularly those with education, health and care (EHC) plans specifying a need for support in more expensive settings.

Since 2015, demand for EHC plans has increased 140%, leading to 576,000 children with plans in 2024. There has also been a 14% increase in the number of those with SEN support, to 1.14 million pupils in school. These changes have increased the cost of the SEN system.

Although DfE has increased high-needs funding, with a 58% real-terms increase between 2014-15 and 2024-25 to £10.7 billion, the system is still not delivering better outcomes for children and young people or preventing local authorities from facing significant financial risks.

DfE estimates that some 43% of local authorities will have deficits exceeding or close to their reserves in March 2026. This contributes to a cumulative deficit of between £4.3 billion and £4.9 billion when accounting arrangements that stop these deficits impacting local authority reserves are due to end. As such, the current system is not achieving value for money and is unsustainable.

DfE has been implementing its 2023 plan for system improvement, but there remain significant doubts that current actions will resolve the challenges facing the system. None of the stakeholders we spoke to believed current plans would be effective.

The government has not yet identified a solution to manage local authority deficits arising from SEN costs, and ongoing savings programmes are not designed to address these challenges.

Given that the current system costs over £10 billion a year, and that demand for SEN provision is forecast to continue increasing, the government needs to think urgently about how its current investment can be better spent, including through more inclusive education, identifying and addressing needs earlier, and developing a whole-system approach to help achieve its objectives.

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Publication details

Press release

View press release (24 Oct 2024)

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