Technical note - SFR25/2015
Source: data.gov.uk (2017-07-24)

Special educational needs in England: January 2015. Information from the school census on pupils with special educational needs (SEN), and SEN provision in schools. Information on the characteristics of pupils by their: level of SEN provision - education, health and care (EHC) plan or SEN support type of SEN It is based on pupil-level data collected by the Department for Education via the school census. This SFR series previously included information on statements of SEN, based on data from the SEN2 survey. In 2015, The DfE published this information separately as Statements of SEN and EHC plans: England 2015 . The technical note explains the statistics. Information for London Borough of Barnet can be obtained by carrying out a search query on individual datasets. For more recent data related to the London Borough of Barnet, we have also published our most recent 2015 SEN2 return .

A National Statistics publication  
National Statistics are produced to high professional 
standards set out in the National Statistics Code of 
Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews 
to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are 
produced free from any political interference. 
 
 
Statistical First Release 
Special educational needs in England: January 2015 
 
Reference SFR 25/2015 
Date 23 July 2015 
Coverage England 
Theme Children, Education and Skills 
Issued by Department for Education, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BT 
Press office xx-xxxx-xxxx 
Public enquiries 0370 000 2288 
Statistician Adam Whitaker 
Phone xx-xxxx-xxxx 
Email xxx@xxx.xx  
Internet Statistics: special educational needs (SEN) 
 
 
15.4% of pupils in schools in England have identified special educational needs 
(equating to 1,301,445 pupils). This has been decreasing since 2010 (21.1%) and 
is a fall of 2.5 percentage points since last year. This decrease is due to a 
decrease in SEN without a statement or Education, Health and Care (EHC) 
plan. 
2.8% of pupils in schools in England have statements of SEN or an EHC plan 
(equating to 236,165 pupils). This has remained at 2.8% since 2007. 
23.8% of pupils with a primary need were recorded as having ‘Moderate Learning 
Difficulty’ as their primary need – the most common primary need. 
 
 
This publication is based on data collected in the January 2015 School Census. Previously this 
publication also included data collected in the SEN2 return from local authorities on the 
assessment and placement of pupils with new statements of SEN or EHC plans. In 2015 the 
SEN2 information was published separately on 21 May in SFR 14/2015 Statements of SEN and 
EHC plans: England 2015. The publication of SEN2 data was brought forward in 2015 to 
allow timely access to data on the new EHC plans. 
 
 
 

SFR 25/2015: Special educational needs in England: January 2015, issued 23 July 2015 
 
Page 2 of 9 
1. Background and context 
This statistical first release (SFR) publishes data from the January 2015 school census on pupils 
with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and information about special schools in England. This 
SFR also provides data on the characteristics of pupils by their SEN provision. 
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Reforms 
The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) provisions in the Children and Families Act 
2014 were introduced on 1 September 2014.  
From September, any children or young people who are newly referred to a local authority for 
assessment are considered under the new EHC plan assessment process. The legal test of 
when a child or young person requires an EHC plan remains the same as that for a statement 
under the Education Act 1996.  
In addition, the previous ‘School Action’ and ‘School Action Plus’ categories were replaced by a 
new category ‘SEN support’ it is expected that all transfers to this category should take place 
during the 2014/15 academic year. 
See the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 for more detailed information on the reforms. The Code 
of Practice provides improved guidance to help schools and others more accurately identify 
children with SEN. 
Guides are available to support education settings to understand their statutory duties 
and responsibilities under the reforms in the Children and Families Act 2014 in relation to 
children in their care who have or may have special educational needs or disabilities 
(SEND). Guides are also available for children, young people, their families and carers. 
Pupils with SEN are currently categorised as follows: 
SEN support 
Extra or different help is given from that provided as part of the 
school’s usual curriculum. The class teacher and SEN Coordinator 
(SENCO) may receive advice or support from outside specialists. 
This category replaces the former ‘School Action’ and ‘School Action 
Plus’ categories. 
Statement/ EHC plan 
A pupil has a statement of SEN or an EHC plan when a formal 
assessment has been made. A document is in place that sets out the 
child’s needs and the extra help they should receive. 
Transferring children with statements to EHC plans will be phased 
and timescales set out in Transition to the new 0 to 25 special 
educational needs and disability system: Departmental advice for 
local authorities and their partners (March 2015). 

SFR 25/2015: Special educational needs in England: January 2015, issued 23 July 2015 
 
Page 3 of 9 
2. Quality of the data 
The January 2015 school census return contains data collected following the implementation 
of the new SEND system which came into effect from September 2014. There have been some 
changes to the data items collected compared to previous years which should be taken into 
consideration when looking at the time series. 
The ‘Quality, uses and methodology’ document published alongside this SFR contains more 
information on the quality of the data. 
3. Pupils with SEN in schools (Tables 1A-1C) 
The number of pupils 
with SEN has declined 
since 2010 and there 
was a steeper drop in 
2015 
There has been a decline in the proportion with SEN since 2010 when 
21.1% of pupils had SEN. In January 2015 there was a steeper drop 
and the number of pupils with SEN decreased from 1.49 million 
pupils (17.9%) in January 2014 to 1.30 million pupils (15.4%) in 
January 2015.  
This has occurred because the number of children with SEN without 
statements/ EHC plans has declined which may be due to more 
accurate identification of those with SEN following implementation 
of the SEND reforms. 
Proportion of children 
with a statement of 
SEN/ EHC plan has 
remained at 2.8% since 
2007 
The proportion of pupils with a statement/ EHC plan has remained at 
2.8% since 2007. In 2015 there was an increase from 2014 of 3,975 in 
the number of pupils with a statement/ EHC plan to 236,165.  
Number of pupils with 
SEN without a 
statement/ EHC plan 
(SEN support) has 
fallen since 2010 
After an increase between 2007 and 2010, the percentage of pupils 
with SEN without statements/ EHC plans has fallen for the fifth year 
in a row, from 18.3% in 2010 to 12.6% in 2015.  
The decline since 2010 in the number of children with SEN could be 
as the result of more accurate identification of those children who 
have SEN and those who do not.  This may have been as a 
consequence of the 2010 Ofsted Special Educational Needs and 
Disability review which found that a quarter of all children identified 
with SEN, and half of the children at School Action, did not have 
SEN.  
It is possible that the implementation of the SEND reforms in 
September 2014 has also led to more accurate identification which 
has led to the steep decline in the number with SEN in January 2015. 
 
 
 

SFR 25/2015: Special educational needs in England: January 2015, issued 23 July 2015 
 
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Chart A: Number and percentage of pupils with SEN in all schools in England, 2007-2015 
 
Proportion of pupils with SEN without a statement/ EHC plan falls which may be due to more 
accurate identification of those with SEN following implementation of the SEND reforms 
whilst those with a statement or EHC plan shows no change  
 
 
 
 

SFR 25/2015: Special educational needs in England: January 2015, issued 23 July 2015 
 
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4. Type of Primary Need (Table 8) 
Coverage 
Primary need is collected for those pupils on SEN support or with a statement of SEN/ EHC 
plan. The coverage for 2015 is different to previous years – pupils who were formerly School 
Action but have transferred to SEN support are now required to provide a type of need.  
Classification changes 
There have been changes to the classification of type of need in 2015: the previous code of 
‘Behaviour, Emotional and Social Difficulties (BESD)’ has been removed. A new code ‘Social, 
Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH)’ has been introduced, although this shouldn’t be a direct 
replacement. The code ‘SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need’ was also 
introduced in 2015. 
Due to the changes in coverage and classification, it is not possible to produce a direct comparison 
with data for previous years. 
Moderate learning 
difficulty was the most 
common type of need 
23.8% of pupils with a primary need recorded in January 2015 had 
this type of need. 
Autistic spectrum disorder 
was the most common 
need for those with a 
statement or EHC plan 
24.5% of pupils with a statement or EHC plan in January 2015 
had their primary need recorded as this type. 
 
Chart B: Proportion of pupils with statements/ EHC plans and SEN support by primary type of 
need, January 2015 
 
Autistic Spectrum Disorder is the most common primary need amongst pupils with Statements/ EHC 
plans 
 

SFR 25/2015: Special educational needs in England: January 2015, issued 23 July 2015 
 
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5. Age and Gender (Table 3d) 
SEN remains more 
prevalent in boys 
Across all age groups and within state-funded primary, state-
funded secondary and special schools 16.0% of boys are SEN 
support compared to 9.2% for girls. This is down from last year 
when 19.2% of boys and 11.4% of girls had SEN without 
statements. The gender differences for those with statements or 
EHC plans remains similar to previous years with 4.1% of boys 
with a  statement or EHC plan compared to 1.6% of girls. 
Older age groups are more 
likely to have statement of 
SEN/ EHC plan 
Those aged 14 and 15 at the 31 August 2014 are most likely to have 
a statement of SEN/ EHC plan (3.9%). This is consistent with 
previous years. 
Likelihood of having SEN 
support peaks around age 
9 and 10  
The proportion of 9 and 10 year olds who have SEN support is 
15.8%; these age groups have consistently had highest rates of 
SEN in recent years. The decline in rates of SEN in January 2015 
was highest for 12 year olds, with a fall of 4.1 percentage points 
compared to a fall of 2.7 percentage points for all pupils. 
Chart C: Proportion with SEN by age and gender in state-funded primary, state-funded 
secondary and special schools, January 2015  
 
Statements are more prevalent in older age groups and SEN more prevalent in boys  
6. Other characteristics (Table 5 and Table 6D)  
Pupils with SEN are much 
more likely to be eligible 
for free school meals  
Pupils with SEN are more than twice as likely to be eligible for 
free school meals than those without SEN (28.2% compared to 
12.8%). 
Black pupils, Gypsy/Roma 
& Travellers of Irish 
heritage have seen the 
largest drop in rates of 
SEN support 
Between January 2014 and January 2015 the percentage of Black 
pupils with SEN support fell by 4.0 percentage points compared 
to the overall decline of 3.0 percentage points. (The smaller 
groups of Travellers of Irish heritage saw a fall of 9.1 percentage 
points and Gypsy / Roma fell by 6.4 percentage points). 

SFR 25/2015: Special educational needs in England: January 2015, issued 23 July 2015 
 
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7. List of tables 
The following tables are available in excel format on the department’s statistics website: 
 Special Educational Needs Statistics. 
All tables relate to England at January 2015 unless otherwise stated. 
Pupils with SEN 
1A All schools: Pupils with statements of SEN or 
EHC plans, January 2007 to 2015 
1B All schools: Pupils with SEN support – SEN 
without statements or EHC plans, January 
2007 to 2015 
1C All schools: Pupils with SEN, January 2007 to 
2015 
1D Academies: Pupils with special educational 
needs, January 2015 
SEN by school type 
2A State-funded primary schools: Number of 
schools by percentage of pupils with SEN by 
region 
2B State-funded secondary schools: Number of 
schools by percentage of pupils with SEN by 
region 
SEN by age and gender 
3A State-funded primary schools: Number of 
pupils with SEN by age and gender 
3B State-funded secondary schools: Number of 
pupils with SEN by age and gender 
3C Special schools: Number of pupils with SEN 
by age and gender 
3D State-funded 
primary, 
state-funded 
secondary and special schools: Number of 
pupils with SEN by age and gender 
SEN by national curriculum year group 
4A State-funded primary schools: Number of 
pupils with SEN by national curriculum year 
group 
4B State-funded secondary schools: Number of 
pupils with SEN by national curriculum year 
group 
4C Special schools: Number of pupils with SEN 
by national curriculum year group 
4D State-funded 
primary, 
state-funded 
secondary and special schools: Number of 
pupils with SEN by national curriculum year 
group 
SEN by free school meal status 
5 
State-funded 
primary, 
state-funded 
secondary and special schools: Number and 
percentage of pupils known to be eligible for 
and claiming free school meals by SEN 
provision 
SEN by ethnicity 
6A State-funded primary schools: Number of 
pupils with SEN by ethnic group 
6B State-funded secondary schools: Number of 
pupils with SEN by ethnic group 
6C Special schools: Number of pupils with SEN 
by ethnic group 
6D State-funded 
primary, 
state-funded 
secondary and special schools: Number of 
pupils with SEN by ethnic group 
SEN by first language 
7 
State-funded 
primary, 
state-funded 
secondary and special schools: Number and 
percentage of pupils with SEN by first 
language  
SEN by primary type of need 
8  
State-funded 
primary, 
state-funded 
secondary and special schools: Number and 
percentage of pupils by primary type of 
need 
Special schools 
9 
Special schools: Types of provision for which 
schools have been approved 
10A Special schools: Number of schools by size 
10B Special schools: Number of pupils by the size 
of their school 
 
 
 

SFR 25/2015: Special educational needs in England: January 2015, issued 23 July 2015 
 
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List of additional tables – Local Authority data 
All tables relate to England at January 2015 unless otherwise stated. 
Pupils with SEN, based upon where the pupil 
attends school 
11A All schools: Pupils with SEN statement/ EHC 
plan, based on where the pupil attends 
school, January 2007 to 2015 
11B All schools: Pupils with SEN support, based 
on where the pupil attends school, January 
2009 to 2015 
12 State-funded primary schools: Number of 
pupils with SEN, based on where the pupil 
attends school 
13 State-funded secondary schools: Number of 
pupils with SEN, based on where the pupil 
attends school 
14 All schools: number of pupils with SEN, 
based on where the pupil attends school 
 
 
Pupils by type of need 
15 State-funded primary schools: Number and 
percentage of pupils with SEN by primary 
type of need 
16 State-funded secondary schools: Number 
and percentage of pupils with SEN by 
primary type of need 
17 Special schools: Number and percentage of 
pupils with SEN by primary type of need 
Pupils with SEN attending SEN units or in 
resourced provision 
18 State-funded primary schools: Number and 
percentage of pupils with SEN attending SEN 
units or placed in resourced provision 
19 State-funded secondary schools: Number 
and percentage of pupils with SEN attending 
SEN units or placed in resourced provision 
 
List of additional tables – by type of need 
All tables relate to state-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools in 
England at January 2015. 
Pupils with SEN by primary type of need  
A 
Number and percentage of pupils with SEN 
by gender and primary type of need 
B1 Number and percentage of pupils with SEN 
support by age and primary type of need 
B2 Number and percentage of pupils with SEN 
statement/ EHC plan by age and primary 
type of need 
C1 Number and percentage of pupils with SEN 
support by ethnic group and primary type of 
need 
C2 Number and percentage of pupils with SEN 
statement/ EHC plan by ethnic group and 
primary type of need 
D 
Number and percentage of pupils with SEN 
by free school meal eligibility and primary 
type of need 
E1 Number and percentage of pupils with SEN 
support by national curriculum year group 
and primary type of need 
E2 Number and percentage of pupils with SEN 
statement/ EHC plan by national curriculum 
year group and primary type of need 
F 
Number and percentage of pupils with SEN 
by first language and primary type of need 
G1 Number and percentage of pupils with SEN 
support by primary type of need and 
secondary type of need 
G2 Number and percentage of pupils with SEN 
statement/ EHC plan by primary type of 
need and secondary type of need 
 
 

SFR 25/2015: Special educational needs in England: January 2015, issued 23 July 2015 
 
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