Pupils with SEND fall further behind their peers - study

Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are continuing to fall behind their peers, with the gap widening despite the introduction of legislative reforms to SEND provision. This is according to a new study from Durham University’s School of Education, which analysed data on 2.5 million Year 6 pupils across four school years from 2015/16 to 2018/19.

Using data from the National Pupil Database, the researcher’s analysis focused on reading, mathematics and writing achievements, looking at variations by the type of special educational need and disability. Across four cohorts of Year 6 pupils, students with SEND performed well below their typically developing peers in reading, writing, and maths skills, with the gap widening for most SEND categories.

Pupils with specific learning difficulties, like dyslexia, and those with speech, language, and communication needs are falling behind their peers by one-and-a-half to two years. For these pupils, the gap in maths is getting wider with each successive cohort, while the gap in writing, while the biggest, has stayed about the same over time. However, some groups of children with specified disabilities did show progress compared to their peers. For example, the research found that in 2019 pupils with visual impairments had ‘a marginal decline in the achievement gap’ in reading, maths and writing compared with the previous year.

Students with autism spectrum conditions are performing, on average, one year behind their typical peers in all three academic domains. This achievement gap appears to be slightly widening with each successive cohort in the study. Meanwhile children with severe and profound learning disabilities, including limited language, social and self-care skills, consistently show the largest achievement gap for reading, writing and maths, and the gap is increasing. For example, in maths, children with these disabilities often face challenges that result in them being, on average, around three academic years behind their typical peers.

One context for these trends is that they followed the introduction of the Children and Families Act in 2014, and the SEND Code of Practice in 2015, which set out a legal framework for how children with SEND should be supported with the aim of improving outcomes over time. The timeframe for the study was chosen to allow for the examination of student cohorts with varying degrees of exposure to policy reforms introduced in this legislation, while avoiding the potential confounding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began significantly impacting educational outcomes in 2020.

Dr Johny Daniel, the author of the research and an assistant professor at Durham’s school of education, said: ‘There have been several positive developments and improvements in approaches to support pupils with SEND. However, the study’s findings indicate that these developments have not yet fully translated into improved outcomes for these students. One contributing factor is that, despite their crucial role, teachers and teaching assistants often do not have sufficient access to professional development opportunities that would enable them to implement the latest evidence-based support strategies effectively for their students with SEND.’

Pepe Di’Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: ‘The results of this study are incredibly disheartening and reinforce the need for urgent action over the SEND crisis. Schools do everything they can to support pupils with additional needs but there are huge problems with funding, the availability of specialist support and delays in securing education, health and care plans. The whole system is on the brink of collapse.’

Catherine McKinnell, the minister for school standards, said: ‘For too long, children and young people with SEND have been let down by a system that is not working. We are determined to tackle these issues head-on, improving children’s life chances with better inclusivity, expertise and capacity within mainstream schools, as well as making sure special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.’

Full report: https://tinyurl.com/3c5duu7b