Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are registered as having SEND; how many children with SEND are enrolled in schools; and what information his Department holds on attendance rates of children with SEND.

The department collects data on school children who have special educational needs (SEN), but does not collect data on those with disabilities specifically.

We publish annual figures on the number of children and young people (aged 0 to 25 years) for whom local authorities have issued education, health and care (EHC) plans, available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. Data relating to January 2021 was published on 13 May 2021.

We publish annual figures on school pupils with SEN based on January school census data, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england. Data relating to January 2021 will be published in June 2021.

Our routine absence statistics include figures for pupils with SEN at state-funded schools.

The most recent full-year absence statistics are for academic year 2018/19 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england. The most recently published part-year absence statistics are for autumn term 2019 which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term. Data relating to autumn term 2020 will be published on 27 May 2021.

Data on the attendance of pupils with EHC plans during the COVID-19 outbreak has also been collected on a daily basis via the Education Settings Survey and published weekly at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.