The system for supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England’s schools does not appear to be running smoothly.

Latest government figures reveal that the number of children who were refused an assessment for an education, health and care (EHC) plan rose by more than a third last year (see bit.ly/tesSEND).

As budgets are squeezed, increasing numbers of requests for a child to be assessed for a plan are being made and an increasing number are being turned down.

Experts are predicting that the problem will only worsen, with demands for support about to “skyrocket”. Here, we answer the key questions about a system under growing pressure.

What do the new government figures show?

Local authorities turned down 14,795 requests for assessments for EHC plans in 2016 - a rise of 35 per cent from 2015.

Why is that a problem?

Children who are not making progress in school can get additional help through an EHC plan. But without a plan that extra help is not available, or would have to be privately funded.

The data (see graphic, above right) shows an overall rise in requests as well as refusals. Dr Adam Boddison, chief executive of the National Association of Special Educational Needs, believes this could “be a reflection of parental anxiety” about the provision their children receive without a plan.

Why are so many children being turned down for an assessment? Surely assessing whether they need support is the least that can be done?

The assessment itself takes time and requires local authorities to seek information and advice from educational, health and other appropriate staff. It must be carried out within 20 weeks, although just 55.7 per cent were made within this time limit in 2016.

Rather than beginning this process for all those who request it, local authorities must first consider whether there is evidence that, despite the school taking action to meet the needs of the child, the child has not made expected progress. They can take into account information about the extent of the child’s SEND.

But if pupils do clear that hurdle and receive an assessment, they are highly likely to be granted a plan - 95.6 per cent were in 2016.

What exactly is an EHC plan?

An education, health and care plan details what support is to be given to a child or young person up to the age of 25 who has SEND.

A plan can be made when a pupil is not making progress in school, despite extra help. It sets out what education, health and care support is needed for that child to make progress.

Once a plan is in place, the local authority has a legal duty to ensure that the support set out in it is provided.

The plans were introduced in September 2014 to gradually replace the old system of statements of special educational needs.

How do EHC plans and statements differ?

In educational terms, they are very similar. When EHC plans were introduced, the SEND Code of Practice said that because the legal test of when a child requires an EHC plan was the same as for a statement, nobody should lose support they would have received under a statement.

But there are differences. Unlike statements, EHC plans encompass health and social care needs, as well as education. They also offer the option of a personal budget - an amount of money that the young person can use to purchase services themselves.

“The spirit of EHC is what parents want,” Jules Daulby, senior consultant teacher with the Driver Youth Trust dyslexia charity, says.

“Education and health are joined up, there is an option for a personal budget to spend how you want to and the reviews are centred around pupils rather than institutions. But the impact and implementation haven’t necessarily gone as well as they should have done.”

Why did the government decide to change the system?

Edward Timpson, the Conservative minister who oversaw the reforms, has said there were three good reasons to reform the system. Families had to fight too hard to get the support their children needed, children with SEND did not do as well in school as they should and the law did not encourage education, health and social care agencies to work together.

There were 31 local authorities that acted as pathfinders for the new system and the official evaluation found that parents in these areas were more likely to be very satisfied with the assessment process than similar families in the old system. But it also warned that there were still many families (39 per cent) who did not receive all of the support they felt they required, and further work would be needed.

But the new system hasn’t worked?

It is clearly having difficulties. “This data [on refusals for assessments] demonstrates that the system is under pressure,” Boddison says. “But in a period of transition, that is not surprising. The test will be whether the level of demand for assessments stabilises beyond March 2018 [when statements are due to completely disappear].”

What is causing the problem?

The Local Government Association argues that funding is at the root of the difficulties. In March, it warned the government that the effect of freezing funding for high-needs SEND for “several years” was “putting local budgets under increasing pressure” and trickling down to the rest of the SEND system.

“If councils do not receive sufficient funding to cover high-cost SEND, they won’t have the resources to allocate extra funds to highly inclusive schools that take higher than average numbers of pupils with additional needs,” the LGA said.

“Equally, mainstream schools may find it difficult to accept or keep pupils with SEND because they cannot afford to subsidise the provision from their own budgets.”

So money is flowing towards the pupils with the highest needs and resources for those with less severe needs are being squeezed.

This could explain why more families where pupils have less severe needs are hoping for an EHC plan, and why the number of requests for assessments has increased.

Councils fear the problem will increase because of government proposals to limit their flexibility over SEND funding.

Any other reasons?

The switch from a three-tier to a two-tier system of SEND support may have also played a part in the new system’s troubles. Previously there was School Action, School Action Plus and statements.

Now School Action and School Action Plus have been replaced by a single stage known as SEN Support.

This may have persuaded parents or teachers of pupils who in the past would have received School Action Plus to apply for an EHC plan assessment, so they can gain extra support.

Any signs of the pressure easing?

Not according to SEND consultant Barney Angliss. “It is inevitable that more parents will request assessments this year, next year and the year after because support in schools has dried up,” he says.

“The increase in requests for assessments is going to skyrocket because SEN Support is not working. The government has to address SEN Support.

“SEN Support is the fire burning under the whole thing. If it doesn’t get put out, the EHC plan process will go up in smoke.”

@teshelen