Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative estimate he has made of the number of school children with dyslexia who were subject to (a) education, health and care plans and (b) statements under the previous SEN and learning difficulties assessments in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We publish the number and proportion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN), including the type of need in the annual ‘Special educational needs in England’ statistical release. This is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen.
SEN pupils are recorded according to their primary type of need. The current types of need do not include a specific breakdown for autism alone. These cases are expected to be recorded under ‘Autistic Spectrum Disorder’. No estimates of the number of children with autism within this category have been made.
The current types of need do not include a specific breakdown for dyslexia alone. These cases are expected to be recorded under ‘Specific Learning Difficulty’. No estimates of the number of children with dyslexia within this category have been made.
The table below shows a breakdown of the number of pupils by each primary type of need available for the last five years (as at January each year).
Statements of SEN (and EHC plans from 2015) | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
Specific Learning Difficulty | 10,480 | 10,045 | 9,665 | 8,938 | 8,390 |
Moderate Learning Difficulty | 33,455 | 32,410 | 31,155 | 29,650 | 28,564 |
Severe Learning Difficulty | 27,540 | 28,330 | 28,940 | 29,001 | 29,120 |
Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulty | 9,715 | 9,810 | 10,010 | 9,955 | 10,010 |
Behaviour, Emotional & Social Difficulties | 29,960 | 30,035 |
|
| |
Social, Emotional and Mental Health |
|
| 28,135 | 27,259 | 28,007 |
Speech, Language and Communications Needs | 29,565 | 30,035 | 30,880 | 30,942 | 32,292 |
Hearing Impairment | 6,285 | 6,180 | 6,100 | 5,937 | 5,985 |
Visual Impairment | 3,540 | 3,490 | 3,450 | 3,330 | 3,239 |
Multi- Sensory Impairment | 525 | 550 | 610 | 631 | 686 |
Physical Disability | 13,345 | 13,080 | 13,025 | 12,873 | 12,742 |
Autistic Spectrum Disorder | 47,225 | 49,975 | 54,245 | 57,211 | 60,832 |
Other Difficulty/Disability | 4,395 | 4,540 | 5,150 | 5,228 | 5,727 |
SEN Support but no specialist assessment |
|
| 285 | 268 | 359 |
Total | 216,030 | 218,475 | 221,650 | 221,223 | 225,953 |
Note: The figures provided have been rounded in line with their presentation in the statistics publication 'Special educational needs in England'. Figures are rounded to the nearest five for year 2013 to 2015. No rounding is applied for 2016 onwards.
Source: School Census
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative estimate he has made of the number of school children with Autism who were subject to (a) education, health and care plans and (b) statements under the previous SEN and learning difficulties assessments in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We publish the number and proportion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN), including the type of need in the annual ‘Special educational needs in England’ statistical release. This is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen.
SEN pupils are recorded according to their primary type of need. The current types of need do not include a specific breakdown for autism alone. These cases are expected to be recorded under ‘Autistic Spectrum Disorder’. No estimates of the number of children with autism within this category have been made.
The current types of need do not include a specific breakdown for dyslexia alone. These cases are expected to be recorded under ‘Specific Learning Difficulty’. No estimates of the number of children with dyslexia within this category have been made.
The table below shows a breakdown of the number of pupils by each primary type of need available for the last five years (as at January each year).
Statements of SEN (and EHC plans from 2015) | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
Specific Learning Difficulty | 10,480 | 10,045 | 9,665 | 8,938 | 8,390 |
Moderate Learning Difficulty | 33,455 | 32,410 | 31,155 | 29,650 | 28,564 |
Severe Learning Difficulty | 27,540 | 28,330 | 28,940 | 29,001 | 29,120 |
Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulty | 9,715 | 9,810 | 10,010 | 9,955 | 10,010 |
Behaviour, Emotional & Social Difficulties | 29,960 | 30,035 |
|
| |
Social, Emotional and Mental Health |
|
| 28,135 | 27,259 | 28,007 |
Speech, Language and Communications Needs | 29,565 | 30,035 | 30,880 | 30,942 | 32,292 |
Hearing Impairment | 6,285 | 6,180 | 6,100 | 5,937 | 5,985 |
Visual Impairment | 3,540 | 3,490 | 3,450 | 3,330 | 3,239 |
Multi- Sensory Impairment | 525 | 550 | 610 | 631 | 686 |
Physical Disability | 13,345 | 13,080 | 13,025 | 12,873 | 12,742 |
Autistic Spectrum Disorder | 47,225 | 49,975 | 54,245 | 57,211 | 60,832 |
Other Difficulty/Disability | 4,395 | 4,540 | 5,150 | 5,228 | 5,727 |
SEN Support but no specialist assessment |
|
| 285 | 268 | 359 |
Total | 216,030 | 218,475 | 221,650 | 221,223 | 225,953 |
Note: The figures provided have been rounded in line with their presentation in the statistics publication 'Special educational needs in England'. Figures are rounded to the nearest five for year 2013 to 2015. No rounding is applied for 2016 onwards.
Source: School Census
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assistance is available for children with dyslexia and learning difficulties to support them during key stage 2 assessment.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Statutory key stage 2 national curriculum assessments are intended to assess pupils’ abilities in a fair and comparable way, with as many pupils as possible able to access them. They are designed so that most pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including dyslexia and other learning difficulties, can participate but some pupils may require extra assistance.
Access arrangements are adjustments that schools can make to support specific pupils during the tests, as long as they are based on normal classroom practice and do not advantage or disadvantage the specific pupil. Assistance available to support pupils with dyslexia or learning difficulties may include one or more of the following: additional time; a word processor or technical aid; an adult to act as a reader, scribe or prompter; and rest breaks.
Guidance on the specific types of access arrangements available to schools was last published in January 2017, and an updated version will be released shortly:
www.gov.uk/guidance/key-stage-2-tests-how-to-use-access-arrangements.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will introduce a diagnostic assessment pathway for (a) dyslexia and dyspraxia and (b) other specific learning difficulties.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Arrangements for referrals for diagnosis of a learning disability are a matter for local determination and a referral might be made via education or health. The new framework for special educational needs, introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014, provides a basis for the different sectors to work together in supporting the assessment of children’s needs and identifying the support they need.
The Healthy Child Programme plays an important role in supporting the early identification of a complex need in the first five years of a child’s life. This is the key universal service for improving the health and well-being of children, through health and development reviews, health promotion, parenting support, screening and immunisation programmes.
All early years providers are required to have arrangements in place to identify and support children with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities, and to promote equality of opportunity for children in their care as set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, which is published online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2. Early years providers and educational settings should have arrangements in place that include assessment of SEN as part of the setting’s overall process for monitoring and assessing children.
All schools must use their best endeavours to make sure that children with SEN get the support they need. When deciding on the provision to be made for a particular child or young person with SEN or a disability, schools and local authorities must refer to the SEND Code of Practice, which is available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25. Teachers, and others working in schools, will work closely with their local Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) when supporting children with SEN and disabilities, including those with dyslexia and dyspraxia.
The Department is working with dyslexia organisations to facilitate better support for children with dyslexia, including funding of £204,000 in 2015/16 to the Dyslexia - Specific Learning Difficulties Trust to provide expert advice, information and training on literacy difficulties, speech and language difficulties and dyslexia to schools and parents. This includes training teachers to deliver quality teaching and Special Educational Needs (SEN) support for pupils with dyslexia.
A grant of £550,000 in 2015/16 has been made to the British Dyslexia Association to fund a project to address issues around early identification and effective provision. The project will develop a certification framework which provides a graduated route towards a whole school policy for supporting children with literacy difficulties.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) dyslexia and (b) other learning disabilities are tested for at an early age, and that the relevant support is given to make sure the child does not fall academically behind their peers.
Answered by Edward Timpson
All early years providers are required to have arrangements in place to identify and support children with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities, and to promote equality of opportunity for children in their care as set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. Early years providers and educational settings should have arrangements in place that include assessment of SEN as part of the setting’s overall process for monitoring and assessing children.
All schools must use their best endeavours to make sure that children with SEN get the support they need. When deciding on the provision to be made for a particular child or young person with SEN or a disability, schools and local authorities must refer to the SEND Code of Practice. Teachers, and others working in schools, will work closely with their local Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) when supporting children with SEN and disabilities, including those with dyslexia. Support and intervention should be provided to meet the outcomes identified for each pupil, and the quality of teaching for SEN pupils and the progress they make should be embedded in schools’ performance management arrangements.
Where a child’s special educational needs cannot be met by their school the local authority can carry out an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment, and where necessary issue a EHC plan to provide additional support.
The department is working with dyslexia organisations to facilitate better support for children with dyslexia, including funding of £204,000 in 2015/16 to the Dyslexia - Specific Learning Difficulties Trust to provide expert advice, information and training on literacy difficulties, speech and language difficulties and dyslexia to schools and parents. This includes training teachers to deliver quality teaching and Special Educational Needs (SEN) support for pupils with dyslexia.
The department has also given a grant of £550,000 in 2015/16 to the British Dyslexia Association to fund a project to address issues around early identification and effective provision. The project will develop a certification framework which provides a graduated route towards a whole school policy for supporting children with literacy difficulties.
Furthermore, the department has placed phonics at the heart of early reading, since a large body of research evidence concludes that phonics the most effective way of teaching literacy for all children, including those with dyslexia and specific learning difficulties. The phonics screening check, administered at the end of year one, identifies children’s decoding ability, so that those who need further help can be identified and supported by the school.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average age was of people diagnosed with dyslexia in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Pendle constituency in each of the last three years.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department for Education does not collect specific information on the numbers of children diagnosed with dyslexia but we do publish information on pupils with specific learning difficulties as collected via the School Census and this grouping will include children whose primary needs is dyslexia. Data separating dyslexia from other forms of specific learning difficulties is not available. The answer therefore provides data on pupils identified with specific learning difficulties.
At present only those with a statement or on ‘School Action Plus’ need to provide their type of special educational need (SEN) but those on ‘School Action’ do not, which means this will not give complete coverage.
However, under the new SEN and disability reforms, which came into force on 1 September 2014, schools are required to provide data on type of needs for all children identified with SEN.
The information in the tables below has been taken from the Statistical First Releases ‘Special educational needs in England: January 2012 to 2014’.[1]
When completing their School Census data return, schools are required to identify the primary type of need and the secondary type of need, information on the primary type of need is given below.
2014 | Primary schools | Secondary Schools | Special Schools |
England | 29,835 | 36,565 | 1,155 |
North West | 4,865 | 4,740 | 215 |
Lancashire | 517 | 528 | 31 |
2013 | Primary schools | Secondary Schools | Special Schools |
England | 30,360 | 39,205 | 1,090 |
North West | 4,795 | 5,445 | 175 |
Lancashire | 571 | 735 | 29 |
2012 | Primary schools | Secondary Schools | Special Schools |
England | 31,580 | 41,940 | 1,055 |
North West | 4,940 | 5,775 | 145 |
Lancashire | 737 | 796 | 27 |
Figure 1: Number with primary need type of specific learning difficulty, by type of school, region and Local Authority (those with a statement or on school action plus – not collected for those on school action)
2014 | Total number of children | Average age |
School Action Plus | 57,505 | 10.7 |
Statement | 10,045 | 11.8 |
All | 67,550 | 10.9 |
2013 | Total number of children | Average age |
School Action Plus | 60,180 | 10.9 |
Statement | 10,480 | 11.9 |
All | 70,660 | 10.9 |
2012 | Total number of children | Average age |
School Action Plus | 63,695 | 10.8 |
Statement | 10,880 | 11.9 |
All | 74,575 | 11.0 |
Figure 2: Number with primary need type of specific learning difficulty and average age (type of need not collected for those on school action).
[1] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2014
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many diagnoses of dyslexia were made in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Pendle constituency in each of the last three years.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department for Education does not collect specific information on the numbers of children diagnosed with dyslexia but we do publish information on pupils with specific learning difficulties as collected via the School Census and this grouping will include children whose primary needs is dyslexia. Data separating dyslexia from other forms of specific learning difficulties is not available. The answer therefore provides data on pupils identified with specific learning difficulties.
At present only those with a statement or on ‘School Action Plus’ need to provide their type of special educational need (SEN) but those on ‘School Action’ do not, which means this will not give complete coverage.
However, under the new SEN and disability reforms, which came into force on 1 September 2014, schools are required to provide data on type of needs for all children identified with SEN.
The information in the tables below has been taken from the Statistical First Releases ‘Special educational needs in England: January 2012 to 2014’.[1]
When completing their School Census data return, schools are required to identify the primary type of need and the secondary type of need, information on the primary type of need is given below.
2014 | Primary schools | Secondary Schools | Special Schools |
England | 29,835 | 36,565 | 1,155 |
North West | 4,865 | 4,740 | 215 |
Lancashire | 517 | 528 | 31 |
2013 | Primary schools | Secondary Schools | Special Schools |
England | 30,360 | 39,205 | 1,090 |
North West | 4,795 | 5,445 | 175 |
Lancashire | 571 | 735 | 29 |
2012 | Primary schools | Secondary Schools | Special Schools |
England | 31,580 | 41,940 | 1,055 |
North West | 4,940 | 5,775 | 145 |
Lancashire | 737 | 796 | 27 |
Figure 1: Number with primary need type of specific learning difficulty, by type of school, region and Local Authority (those with a statement or on school action plus – not collected for those on school action)
2014 | Total number of children | Average age |
School Action Plus | 57,505 | 10.7 |
Statement | 10,045 | 11.8 |
All | 67,550 | 10.9 |
2013 | Total number of children | Average age |
School Action Plus | 60,180 | 10.9 |
Statement | 10,480 | 11.9 |
All | 70,660 | 10.9 |
2012 | Total number of children | Average age |
School Action Plus | 63,695 | 10.8 |
Statement | 10,880 | 11.9 |
All | 74,575 | 11.0 |
Figure 2: Number with primary need type of specific learning difficulty and average age (type of need not collected for those on school action).
[1] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2014