Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are significantly more likely to be unhappy at secondary school than other children, new DfE-funded research has found.
Almost one in five (19 per cent) children with SEND are unhappy with their school compared to just 7 per cent of children without SEND, say researchers at City, University of London.
The research also found a link between having SEND and psychological difficulties - such as conduct problems or hyperactivity.
A quarter - 25 per cent - of children have a high level of difficulties compared to 11 per cent of other children, according to the findings, although the researchers pointed out that there was an overlap with some children who had a SEND diagnosis due to psychological problems.
Researchers analysed data from 1,600 children, including 299 with SEND, to find out how having SEND influenced children’s happiness once other characteristics, such as being from a poorer family, had been taken into account. The data was collected in 2012-13.
“Children with SEND may experience their school and family life in a way that is distinct from those without SEND, for instance, they may be at a greater risk of being bullied, or being excluded from school - factors which themselves can reduce wellbeing and lead to disadvantage in later life,” the researchers Matt Barnes and Eric Harrison concluded.
They added: “More generally, the distinct experiences of children with SEND inside and outside the educational system raise pressing issues for policy and research.”
A separate report, also published today by the Department for Education, has highlighted some of the barriers schools faced in supporting students with SEND.
The survey of 219 staff in 1,566 schools and colleges between January and March 2017 highlighted a range of problems, including insufficient time for teachers and teaching assistants to plan together; teaching assistants being moved from class to class; difficulties in finding or affording external support in the local area, and having to wait a long time for external support.
The report comes after an international survey of children’s wellbeing found that 15-year-olds in England were among the unhappiest in the world, coming 38th out of 48 countries.
The Students’ Well-Being report from the Programme for International Student Assessment found that children in the UK were more worried about tests than those in almost all other countries.
Around 12 per cent of pupils in primary school and 10 per cent of pupils in secondary school are on SEN support - these are children who need additional help but who do not have an Education, Health and Care Plan (the replacement for statements of SEND).
