Most teachers believe the level of support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has decreased in the past five years, research suggests.
Only 5 per cent of teachers polled by the NASUWT teaching union said that the pupils with SEND whom they teach always receive the educational support they are legally entitled to.
And 43 per cent of teachers surveyed said the number of specialist support staff working with pupils with SEND in their school has dropped over the past five years.
The findings of the poll, which 2,126 NASUWT members in England participated in during February and March, have been released ahead of the union’s two-day annual conference in Liverpool, which starts on Friday.
Some 51 per cent of respondents said the level of support for pupils with SEND has decreased in the past five years.
Less support for pupils with SEND
Delegates at the conference are due to debate a motion calling on the government to develop a comprehensive plan to meet the growing demand for SEND provision.
The motion highlights the “significant rise” in pupils presenting with complex needs, the pressures on specialist settings and the impact on pupils and staff in mainstream schools.
Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents said pupils remained in their school despite having an education, health and care plan (EHCP) naming a specialist school for them - because that setting was full.
More than nine in 10 said the needs of the pupils they teach who have SEND have become more complex over the past five years.
Meanwhile, four in 10 said they were not always made aware of the specific support that each of the pupils with SEND they teach is statutorily entitled to.
Staff ‘feel like they are failing’
One respondent said: “Everyone is stretched. There are experienced staff who know what some of the SEN children need but there is not enough time, adults, space or resources available.
“Staff feel like they are failing the children. The children are suffering and struggling.”
Another said: “I am not given the time to adapt the lessons for all the different contrasting and often conflicting requirements.
“I also do not have the expertise in dealing with the specific needs, and have not been given that training.”
Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “The government has inherited a SEND system on its knees.
“Our latest survey findings point to the major challenges that will need to be overcome if any reforms to SEND provision are to be successful.
“Any plan for rebuilding trust and confidence in the SEND system must be properly resourced and integral to wider reforms to curriculum and assessment, inspection, accountability and measures to tackle the teacher recruitment and retention crisis, and the ambition to recruit 6,500 more teachers.”
For the latest education news and analysis delivered every weekday morning, sign up for the Tes Daily newsletter
