New visits to understand how children with SEND who are 
not in school are supported
Source: gov.uk (2025-01-14)

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have today published guidance for the next series of thematic visits looking at how well children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are being supported.

Ofsted and the CQC carry out annual visits to consider a particular aspect of the SEND system. This year’s visits will take place between spring and summer and will look in depth at the experiences of children with SEND who are of compulsory school age but are not registered at any type of independent or state-funded school.

Read how Ofsted will conduct ‘Thematic reviews of children not in school in local areas’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thematic-reviews-of-children-not-in-school-in-local-areas).

The visits will also consider the experiences of children who are on a school roll but are flexi-schooled (noted as a growing phenomenon in Ofsted’s most recent Annual Report (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsted-annual-report-202324-education-childrens-services-and-skills)), on a part-time timetable, receiving education otherwise than at school, or are severely absent. Ofsted and CQC will look at how local area partnerships are working to meet the needs of these children and the availability of universal and specialist health services. Inspectors will also consider the reasons why children are not in full-time education and what is being done to support them to attend school.

The visits will explore the extent to which information is shared with key partners and the barriers that local area partners face when trying to support children not in school.

Evidence will be gathered from key stakeholders to understand their experiences, including children and young people with SEND and their families.

The visits will not result in judgements about individual local areas. Instead, an overarching report will be published in autumn 2025 and will highlight examples of good practice as well as identifying any systemic concerns.

Lee Owston, Ofsted’s National Director for Education, said:

We know from our inspections that the number of children with SEND who are not in school has been growing to a concerning extent.

It’s vital that the most vulnerable children are not out of sight and that they continue to receive the support they need, even when they are not at school. I hope these visits will help us to understand the experiences of these children, as well as the barriers local areas are facing in trying to deliver improvements for them.

Lucy Harte, Deputy Director of Multiagency Operations at the Care Quality Commission, said:

We need to understand what the impact is on children and young people with SEND when they are not educated at a school. This includes their access to education, health, and care services.

Working with Ofsted, these visits will allow us to look at the relationships between local area partnerships including health care services in order to help understand how they can best meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.

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