Primary pupils in areas where most schools are run by the local authority are 10 times more likely to receive an education, health and care plan (EHCP) than those in the most academised areas, according to a new report.
The “markedly” different rates of pupils receiving EHCPs could be down to a range of reasons - including fewer pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) enrolling in academies, says the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think tank.
However, the differing rates could also be down to academies meeting pupils’ needs without formal identification of SEND, under-identification of SEND or delays in EHCP assessments caused by reduced local authority capacity in areas with fewer maintained schools, the research finds.
Primary pupils attending academies are less likely to be issued with an EHCP, researchers found, after adjusting “for a rich set of information about children, schools and local authorities”.
Academy pupils ‘less likely to have SEND’
And across primary and secondary schools, academy pupils are less likely to have special educational needs support identified, or to be identified with SEND if using child and adolescent mental health services.
In addition, secondary students at academies are less likely to have social, emotional and mental health needs identified, or to join a special school.
The EPI says the government should ensure that local allocations of the high-needs budget meet local needs, and that councils’ education, health and care needs assessment functions are properly staffed.
Jo Hutchinson, EPI’s director for SEND and additional needs, warned that under-recognition of SEND was highest in “children whose needs were less visible in school due to frequent absences or school moves, those living in heavily academised areas, the least-advantaged living in areas of high deprivation, and girls with emotional disorders”.
The analysis compares pupils attending maintained schools with those attending academies. It says there are no statistically significant effects of academisation in the year that an academy converts.
However, the chance of EHCPs being issued in Year 3 for children attending local authority schools is 1.3 times greater than for those children in schools that had converted or opened as academies in the previous school year.
And the likelihood of children in local authority schools being identified for an EHCP in Year 3 is 1.8 times greater than for those children in academies that had converted or opened two years earlier.
The report is based on a cohort of pupils who started Reception in 2008 and were in Year 11 in 2019.
Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said the report appears to based on historic data from over a decade ago.
“The most recent official figures report that there is actually just one third of a percentage point difference between the level of children with EHCPs in academies and maintained schools,” she said.
Ms Cruddas added: “As the report says, it is unclear whether or not having a SEND label always benefits pupils.”
CST believes “we need to move away from diagnosis and labels towards meeting need, so that we focus much more on a positive, inclusive approach that helps children achieve, and less on a perception of what they are not able to do”, she said.
School absence hides SEND needs
The EPI raises concern about pupils whose needs are hidden due to absence from school or frequent school moves.
The rate of primary pupils in the top quartile for illness absence receiving an EHCP is a tenth of the rate for those with the least sickness absence.
Children with English as an additional language also have less chance of being identified with SEND compared with otherwise similar children.
The EPI found that children in local authorities in the top quartile for British Minority Ethnic (BME) children are twice as likely to be receiving SEN support and three times more likely to be identified for an EHCP as children living in LAs with bottom-quartile BME rates.
‘Assess social development beyond age 5’
The report says that girls are less likely than boys to be identified with social, emotional and mental health needs in secondary school, despite similar chances of having a behavioural or emotional disorder.
The EPI also found that children with the lowest personal, social and emotional development (PSED) scores at age 5 were 100 times more likely to receive an EHCP during primary school.
It says this highlights that PSED assessments are a critical early indicator for SEND, and it has called on the national curriculum review to consider introducing them in early key stage 2 and at the start of secondary school.
More SEND training for teachers
The report also recommends that training in child development and different types of SEND should be mandatory in initial teacher training and early career development, and prioritised in development for experienced teachers.
Ms Hutchison said: ”It is time for a renewed focus on the preparation of school staff to understand and support children’s social and emotional needs as well as their academic development.”
A Tes investigation last year found that most teachers thought their training had not prepared them to be able to meet pupils’ needs in any of the main areas of SEND.
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