Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) assessment his Department has made and what (b) research his Department has conducted on the (i) data on and (ii) treatments for dyscalculia in England.

The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) code of practice recognises that dyscalculia is a specific aspect of learning that can be evident in a child who has a specific learning difficulty.

The department collects data on primary and secondary special educational need (SEN) types in the school census. This includes specific learning difficulty, the category under which those with dyscalculia would be recorded. As of January 2021, 156,797 pupils in England were recorded with specific learning difficulty as their primary type of SEN.

The department has made no specific assessment of or conducted research on the data or treatment of dyscalculia in isolation from the broader category of specific learning difficulties.

The government funds research into neurodiversity through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), delivered through the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy respectively. Over the last 5 years (2016/17 to 2020/21), the government has spent, or has committed to spend, £81.3 million on neurodiversity research.

The usual practice of NIHR and UKRI is not to ringfence funds for expenditure on particular topics. Research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. NIHR and UKRI welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including dyscalculia. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.

Through the Children and Families Act 2014 we require local authorities to work with schools and other partners to publish a ‘Local Offer’ outlining the support they expect to be available to children, parents and families affected by SEN in the local area, including those with dyscalculia.

More broadly, we are supporting and enhancing mathematics teaching through our national network of 40 school-led Maths Hubs, which are helping local schools improve the quality of their mathematics teaching based on best practice.