Schools in England are steering away children with special needs, leading some to have six times as many pupils requiring learning or behaviour support compared with others, according to research.
Local authority leaders told the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) they knew of schools that were “happy” to see others take children requiring extra support detailed by education, health and care plans (EHCPs), including headteachers who feared the impact on exam results of enrolling children with special needs.
The findings highlight the pressure the government faces as it prepares its schools white paper to urgently overhaul special needs provision and funding.
One council leader said the more inclusive schools became “victims of their own success” by attracting larger numbers of children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send), overwhelming resources.
One council Send officer said: “We’ve got a handful of schools across the county reaching a breaking point. It is not sustainable.”
In one local authority, some primary schools had 50% of pupils with identified special needs while others had fewer than 5%, with schools whose pupils came from deprived areas the most likely to have high numbers.
Matt Walker, the report’s principal investigator, said: “Our latest findings show the uneven spread of pupils with Send across mainstream schools risks creating significant pressures on those with the highest intakes of Send students. These schools are often working tirelessly to provide inclusive education but may be facing growing financial and operational challenges.
“As the government prepares its delayed schools white paper, these schools are likely to be most affected by any future reforms.”
He added: “The evidence underscores the need to take decisive action to create a fairer, more sustainable Send system – one that supports inclusive schools rather than working against them, and ensures every child receives the right help in the right setting.”
School leaders who spoke to the Guardian said there had been longstanding problems around schools steering away the families of children with special needs but the recent rapid increase in numbers has made the problem far more acute.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “The findings highlight what we have known for years, which is that some schools actively avoid admissions from Send students.
“Where schools are inclusive and have built good practice in supporting Send students, they are too often finding themselves under attack from Ofsted and battling other accountability measures.
“Government Send reform and the schools white paper need to address admissions inequalities and legislate for a mainstream inclusion model which works for all young people, including those with Send.”
The NFER found that last year 25% of primary schools had, on average, more than six times the number of pupils with EHCPs compared with those in the lowest quartile. EHCPs are legally binding documents that set out support to be provided to pupils with significant special needs. Among secondary schools, the quartile with the highest rate of EHCPs had about five times higher than those with the lowest.
Analysis of Department for Education figures found that 56% of pupils with EHCPs are now educated in mainstream schools, compared with 49% a decade earlier.
The NFER also found that schools with the highest proportions of children with EHCPs or requiring additional support were “more likely to draw from more disadvantaged communities, and have lower average test scores” than other schools.
Local authority officials with responsibility for special needs education said that “parental choice, and school ethos and reputation” were the main factors behind the clustering of special needs within certain schools. They said “informal networks, such as parent WhatsApp groups and peer advice” played a role in guiding families toward particular schools with inclusive policies or resources.
But officials noted that “some schools are happy for others to build reputations for taking on [pupils with] EHCPs”, while “accountability pressures” such as exam results and Ofsted inspections discouraged schools from admitting pupils with Send.
A DfE spokesperson said: “This government inherited a Send system on its knees, with thousands of families struggling to get the right support. We’re determined to put that right by improving mainstream inclusion so every child can thrive at their local school.
“We’ve held over 100 listening sessions with families and will continue engaging parents as we deliver reform through the schools white paper.”
