Special Educational Needs

(asked on 17th December 2014) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have a statement for or related to behavioural difficulties.


Answered by
Edward Timpson Portrait
Edward Timpson
This question was answered on 5th January 2015

Information is collected in the School Census on the type of special educational need (SEN) for children with statements in schools.

From the January 2014 School Census there were 42,330 children with a statement of special educational needs who were identified with the type of need as ‘Behaviour, Emotional and Social Difficulties’. This includes those with this need as their primary need or as their secondary need only. The School Census covers maintained schools, non-maintained special schools and Pupil Referral Units. Children with a statement in independent schools or who are not at school are not included.

This information can be found in table G2 in the additional tables of the Statistical First Release ‘Special educational needs in England: January 2014’.[1]

The Department for Education is changing the category of ‘Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties’ to ‘Social, Emotional and Mental Health’ as part of the SEN and disability reforms introduced in September 2014. The aim of this is to reflect that while behavioural issues can be an indication of SEN, there should be a focus on identifying underlying issues and putting appropriate support in place so that these children can be fully supported

[1] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2014

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