More than one in five pupils in England now have special educational needs, according to the latest official figures from the Department for Education (DfE). The data reveals a sharp rise in the number of children receiving extra support in schools, putting pressure on families, schools and local authorities.
The number of children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) has increased by 11.6% compared with last year, adding 58,000 for a record total of 538,500. This means 6% of all schoolchildren now have active EHCPs. Additionally, there was a 3% increase in the number of children with special needs but without an EHCP, to nearly 1.4 million. Combined, 21% of the school population is regarded as having special needs in some form.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said: “Behind these figures are children and families still desperately struggling to get help from schools which simply don’t have the funding, staff, space or specialist support to cope on their own with rising demand.” A DfE spokesperson acknowledged the scale of the challenge, noting that the Send system is under “immense strain” and that the government is investing over £4bn to bring specialist support into schools.
The government’s white paper proposes that fewer pupils receive EHCPs in future, with many instead receiving “individual support plans” agreed between parents and schools. No changes to EHCP support will be made before September 2030. Harriet Edwards, a director of the disability charity Sense, called the figures “an urgent wake-up call” and said far too many disabled children are being failed by a broken education system.
Boys make up more than two-thirds of children with EHCPs, but the number of girls is rising more quickly. One in three pupils with EHCPs have autism, while more than one in five have speech, language and communications needs. Nearly 58% of children with EHCPs attend mainstream schools, and over 500 schools have internal Send units.
Rob Williams, senior policy adviser at NAHT, said many mainstream schools have created their own specialist units to meet pupils’ needs, calling it “a testament to the sector’s commitment to inclusion but it is not sustainable.”
