One in three have asked for a special needs assessment for their child, a survey finds, which uncovers a boom in demand for special needs provision in schools throughout the UK.
The statistics were published as concerns in England grew over government proposals to shake up special needs provision in the face of escalating costs and a drastic shortage of specialist special school places.
The poll of over 5,800 parents, conducted by the Parentkind charity and carried out by YouGov, revealed that 33% of parents with a school-age child reported that they had requested an assessment for potential special educational needs (SEN) from their child’s school.
In England alone the figure was 34%. Past Department for Education (DfE) figures discovered that roughly a fifth of children were last year recorded as SEN, including 482,000 in England with EHCPs outlining specific provision for individual children.
Jason Elsom, Parentkind’s chief executive, told us: “Even with the best from our schools, hundreds of thousands of families are suffering because our SEN system is in tatters.
“Families shouldn’t have to wait years or months to get the help they so urgently need. Our benchmark as a society should be the way we treat our most vulnerable, and this should be heavy on our consciences.”
Parentkind is the UK’s biggest parent-school charity and works with over 24,000 parent teacher associations and school parent councils.
As many as half of parents who requested an assessment reported that it was carried out by the school while the other half reported waiting or having paid for an independent assessment. One quarter of these waiting reported waiting for over one year.
The survey also exposed the individual price that a number of parents pay in caring for a child with special needs: 15% reported having left their job to look after their child and 20% reported taking time off paid work.
One in three parents of children with SEN reported they were experiencing “financial pressure as a result of extra costs” and added strain within the home, and 40% reported having had their own mental illness.
Sharp increases in diagnoses of autism, ADHD and speech and language needs have been reported in children over recent years, with speech disorders and social and emotional difficulties growing fast since the Covid pandemic.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has labeled England’s rises in special educational needs and disabilities (Send) as “staggering”, a sign of “increased recognition of needs that were always present” due to increased awareness and diagnosis.
England’s education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has stated that the DfE will release a white paper detailing its reform intentions later this year. It is believed to increase provision of special needs in mainstream schools and promote the development of specialist units within them.
However, parents and campaigners are worried that reforms will limit the application of EHCPs, and a protest was held outside parliament earlier this week.
The DfE has claimed it is “determined to enhance inclusivity and specialist expertise in mainstream schools”, but the department has an uphill battle with the Treasury for extra special school places funding.
The DfE added: “This government inherited a Send system left on its knees – that’s why we’re listening intently to parents as we work to enhance experiences and outcomes for all children with Send, wherever they are in the country. Our starting point will always be enhancing support for children.
