Skip navigation

Regional Equality & Diversity Partnership


Font size and colour changer:
A A A [ · ] [ · ] [ · ] [ · ][ · ]

DfE figures show one in four primary school boys has SEN

Summary: Almost a quarter of primary school boys now have special educational needs (SEN), according to the latest government statistics.

The figures, published by researchers at the Department for Education (DfE), show that the number of children with SEN has increased steadily by 160,000 since 2006.

This means that 1.69 million, or 21 per cent of all children, now struggle with some sort of additional need or learning difficulty.

The rate of boys at primary school who have SEN without a statement has reached 23.4 per cent. Two per cent will have statemented SEN.

Despite the increase, the number of pupils with statements of SEN decreased from 236,750 in 2006 to 220,890 in 2010.

But boys are still two and a half times more likely than girls to have statements at primary school and nearly three times more likely to have statements at secondary school.

Children with SEN were found to be around twice as likely to be eligible for free school meals than other pupils.

Those with SEN statements relating to behavioural, emotional or social difficulties were most likely to be eligible for free school meals.

Children’s minister Sarah Teather argued that pupils with SEN are not getting the support they need to succeed and are falling behind as soon as they start school.

"It is not right that only five per cent of young people with statements of SEN go on to higher education," she said. "We must change the system so that having SEN or a disability does not predetermine a child’s future.

"Through the SEN green paper we will make sure that children with SEN have the right support at a school chosen by their parents, to suit their individual needs."

But Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, claimed that the coalition government's policy on academies and free schools will make it more difficult for SEN children and young people to access support. 

"All the evidence shows that meeting the needs of SEN pupils works best when done in collaboration with other schools," she said. 

"We are deeply concerned that the current policy to remove state schools from the co-ordination of their local authorities will undermine this collaboration, and make it more difficult for schools to share expertise and resources, including access to specialist services."

Source: Children & Young People Now

All pages in this section:
© 2010 REDP. Contact us: c/o LCIL, 2nd Floor, 5-9 Upper Brown Street, Leicester LE1 5TE Sitemap - Access keys