Overview
- The Sutton Trust report, published Tuesday, says the top 500 state secondary schools enroll 14.8% of pupils on SEND support versus 17.6% in the average comprehensive.
- A Teacher Tapp poll of more than 2,000 senior leaders found 41% believe some schools try to deter families of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
- Leaders in the poll pointed to parent perceptions, with 32% citing strict behaviour approaches and 63% citing a school’s reputation for SEND support as reasons families look elsewhere.
- The data analysis drew on the National Pupil Database and shows the intake gap largely disappears for pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans, which are legal plans that set out required support.
- The government says shutting out disadvantaged or SEND pupils is unacceptable, citing £1.6 billion over three years to boost mainstream support and a further £3.7 billion for specialist places and inclusion bases, with Ofsted set to weigh inclusion in inspections.