Just 1% of school leaders believe that the funding they receive
for pupils with special education needs and disabilities (SEND)
is sufficient to meet children's needs, with a shocking 99%
saying that it is insufficient.
The survey, published as school leaders' union NAHT holds its
annual conference in Newport, found the lack of funding is
harming provision for children with additional needs.
School leaders say it is making it harder for both mainstream and
special schools to provide the support that pupils need: from
teaching assistants, and speech and language therapy, to mental
health support and staff training.
Most say they are being forced to reduce the number of teaching
assistants or hours worked by teaching assistants, even though
the role is crucial in offering individual support to children
with SEND. Nearly four-fifths (78%) said they had needed to do so
in the last three years due to funding pressures, while a further
84% anticipated they would be forced to do so in the next three
years.
Some leaders shared fears that funding shortages mean they are
unable to keep children and staff safe, leaving them feeling they
are letting families down. Some said they were leaving or
considering leaving the profession as a result.
School leaders also talked about the additional pressures caused
by schools having to try to fill the gaps left by under-resourced
services, including health and social care services.
For example, more than four-fifths (85%) said that they were
having to subsidise healthcare provision from their own
budgets.
Special school leaders are particularly angry that the core
£10,000 they receive on a per pupil basis has been frozen since
2013 despite spiralling inflation.
Paul Whiteman, NAHT's general secretary, said: “School leaders
are passionate about offering the best possible education and
support to all pupils, but they are being left in an impossible
position.
“Schools face a perfect storm of growing demand to support more
pupils with special educational needs at the same time as costs
have increased massively and are still rising.
“The blame lies squarely with the government, which has failed to
provide anything like enough funding to enable schools, local
authorities and wider services to meet this demand.
“This is a full-blown crisis and bad news for children, families,
schools and local authorities. Ahead of the general election, it
is incumbent upon all political parties to pledge the system-wide
investment needed to tackle this crisis head on.”
Ian Kendal, executive head teacher at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic
Multi Academy Trust in Essex, added: “The funding we receive for
pupils with SEND is simply not enough, and it's astonishing that
the per pupil SEND funding has not increased for more than a
decade. This puts huge pressure on our dwindling school budgets.
“There just isn't capacity within special schools in our area,
meaning we are supporting even more pupils with complex needs
within our mainstream settings. We believe in inclusion and are
currently doing our best with the limited funds, but, put simply,
it is not good enough for the children with the most complex
needs - they deserve so much more than we can give them.
“It should never have come to this, and we need the government to
urgently put more funding into the system to ensure all
children's needs are met, especially the most vulnerable.”
Ends
- Nearly 1.6m children were receiving SEND support in schools
in England in 2022/23. This includes pupils with Education Health
and Care Plans (EHCPs) and those pupils with SEND who do not have
EHCPs.
- Where schools are unable to provide all the support a child
needs their parents have a right to ask for an assessment with a
view to securing an EHCP. This is a legal personalised document
outlining the education, health and social care needs of children
and young people aged 0 25 years old with special educational
needs or disabilities, as well as the support they need, and the
outcomes they would like to achieve. The local authority has a
legal duty to fund the support deemed necessary in the plan. 25%
of pupils receiving support with SEND in 2022/23 had an EHCP in
place.
- 60% of local authorities are currently subject to government
debt reduction programmes for high needs spending.
