Support for children with SEND who are not in school is inconsistent, inspectorates warn

• Too many children with SEND who do not attend school are missing out on the help and support they need from local education, care and health services.
• Missed opportunities for early identification of children's needs is causing too many children with SEND to leave the school system.
• Capacity challenges and a lack of understanding of roles and responsibilities mean quality of oversight and support for children varies across local areas.

A report by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), published today, finds that support for children with special educational needs and / or disabilities (SEND) who do not attend school full-time is too inconsistent. Although some children receive effective support from services, inspectors found that others do not have access to the same key services or joined-up support from health, social care and education partners. Official data does not show how many children with SEND are known to not be in school, but recent research from the Children's Commissioner estimated that a quarter of children who went into home education had SEN support.

Today's report says missed opportunities to identify children's needs early, and to provide the right support, means too many children with SEND are leaving school when it could be avoided. Parents and carers spoke to inspectors about having no choice but to home educate their child - because they believed their child's needs were not being met in school, and they were struggling to navigate an overly complex SEND system. However, many school leaders stressed that they lack the necessary resources - such as staff with the right expertise - to identify or meet children's needs effectively.

Inspectors from Ofsted and the CQC also found inconsistencies in the quality of oversight and support across local areas, often due to capacity challenges and a lack of understanding of roles and responsibilities. Inspectors heard that there was limited understanding of how ‘education otherwise than at school' (EOTAS) arrangements should be applied, which meant parents' expectations often didn't align with what local areas could offer. Schools and local authorities generally have strong information sharing processes for children with SEND not in school, but health partners are often absent from these arrangements. This means some children with SEND are unable to access key services, such as occupational therapy or speech and language therapy, when they are out of school.

The report also highlights some of the innovative work that local areas are doing to help ensure children with SEND receive effective, multi-agency support to remain in, or return to, school full-time, where appropriate. For example, one local area partnership jointly funded a nurse educator to provide training for education and school transport staff, helping them to feel more confident about supporting children's health needs.

The report is clear that some of the barriers to helping children with SEND remain in school, or to reintegrate later, lie beyond the control of any one local area partnership. It makes several recommendations for both national government and the sector, including:

• The Department for Education (DfE) should prioritise working with local area partnerships to ensure that children's emerging needs are identified early and accurately.
• NHS England and DfE should provide local area partnerships with access to resources and training so they can support schools to take a needs-led approach to supporting children with SEND.
• The DfE should lead on developing guidance for the appropriate use of EOTAS arrangements.
• Local area partnerships should establish clear and robust processes for sharing information about children with SEND not in school, or those at risk of leaving school, making sure that health partners are involved in these arrangements.
• Local area partnerships should ensure that all children with SEND who are not in school receive coordinated support to meet their education, health and social care needs.
• The DfE should resolve the lack of consistency in how in-year admissions are coordinated across the country. Guidance should be developed to help ensure all local area partnerships understand expectations and replicate effective models of in-year admissions.

Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty's Chief Inspector, said:

“Too many children with SEND are out of school, which is deeply concerning.  As well as missing out on the school experience, it also means they are out of sight of local services and don't always receive the help and support they need. These children deserve better.

“Although the national picture is worrying, our report also highlights some good practice where local areas have worked together effectively to ensure children with SEND either remain in school or return to full-time education, where appropriate. I hope this report and its recommendations support wider understanding of these issues and real improvements for children with SEND.”

Professor Bola Owolabi CBE, Chief Inspector of Primary Care and Community Services at the Care Quality Commission said: 

“Well-coordinated support – where colleagues across education, health and social care work together – can make all the difference to ensuring children and young people with SEND have their educational needs met and in the right place.

“We have seen this done well, with innovative approaches to collaboration and support for children and young people who require these services. However, as highlighted in this report, barriers still remain which inhibit a joined-up approach, and inconsistencies from area to area meaning some children and young people with SEND are missing out on their education.

“The recommendations laid out in this report should help remove these barriers to education and empower the sector to take forward a partnership approach between health, social care, and education partners.”

The full report can be found here.