Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have an official definition of developmental dyscalculia; and whether that definition is publicly available on the Department for Education website.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including dyscalculia, receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department does not have an official definition of dyscalculia.

​​Schools (and further education colleges, sixth-form colleges and 16-19 academies) are required to identify and address the special educational needs (SEN) of the pupils they support and, in the case of mainstream settings, to use their best endeavours to make sure that a child or young person who has SEN gets the support they need. All schools should apply the ‘graduated approach’ that is outlined in the SEND code of practice, which means identifying a child’s needs, planning appropriate support, implementing that support and reviewing it regularly to ensure it continues to meet the identified needs. Through this, schools should develop personalised approaches to supporting the unique needs of individual pupils.

High-quality teaching is central to ensuring that pupils with SEND are given the best possible opportunity to achieve in their education. To support all teachers, we are implementing high-quality teacher training reforms, which begins with Initial Teacher Training and continues into early career teaching and through to middle and senior leadership. These reforms are designed to ensure teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed, including those with dyscalculia.

All mainstream schools must have a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) who must be a qualified teacher, or the headteacher, working at the school. On 1 September 2024, the department introduced a new mandatory leadership level national professional qualification (NPQ) for SENCOs. The NPQ will play a key role in improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND by ensuring SENCOs consistently receive high-quality, evidence-based training.

The department also funds the Maths Hubs programme, a school-led network aimed at improving the teaching of mathematics for all pupils in publicly funded schools, including those with SEND. The programme covers primary, secondary and special schools and uses a mastery-based teaching approach which is consistent with accepted practice on how children with dyscalculia can be effectively taught. This includes training for teachers on techniques such as avoiding cognitive overload by breaking the learning down into small, manageable steps, using representations to expose mathematical structure and ensuring that learning is sequenced in a coherent manner so it makes sense to pupils.

To further support the needs of pupils and students with SEND, the department has funded the Universal SEND Services programme, backed by almost £12 million. The programme brings together SEND-specific continuing professional development and support for schools and the further education workforce so that the needs of children and young people with SEND are met earlier and more effectively.