Introduction

​Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) are a crucial aspect of the educational system, affecting a significant portion of children and young people. As of January 2024, approximately 1.6 million pupils in England were identified with SEND, an increase of 101,000 from the previous year. In Oldham, our rate of new children and young people coming into the SEND system is greater than the national average, with a 15% increase in 2023. The number of children and young people with SEND has been rising steadily and has, on average, increased by a 12% increase year-on-year since the reforms in 2014/15.

Nationally, data tells us that SEND is more prevalent among boys, who constitute 72% of individuals who have an education, health and care plan (EHCP) and 62% of those getting SEN support. Furthermore, a significant number are eligible for free school meals (FSM), which is considered a proxy indicator of SEND. In 2024, 42.2% of pupils with an EHC plan and 38.3% of those with SEN support were eligible for FSM, compared to 24.6% of all pupils.

As the number of those with SEND increases, schools and educational settings are expected to deliver the necessary level of support and provision. However, to ensure we facilitate the level of support and provision required for SEND children and young people, a cross-sector approach is required. In Oldham, we work together across the local authority, the Integrated Care Partnership and our local parent/carer charity, POINT to ensure equal responsibility, accountability and commitment is embedded across education, health and care.

The following data is gathered from the Government’s latest SEN2 census and their Explore-Education-Statistics data​. It provides an overview of the headlines related to SEND in Oldham.

Data Overview

Table 1: EHCPs and SEN support comparisons
	Oldham	Stat’ neighbours	National
No of school age pupils	46123	534523	9092073
No of pupils with SEND	8694	99716	1673205
% who have an EHCP	6.0%	4.8%	4.8%
% at SEN support level	12.9%	13.8%	13.6%
Total % who have SEND	18.8%	18.6%%	18.4%
Source: SEN2, January 2024 & gov.uk

Number of EHCPs

• Oldham LA still have a higher rate of children and young people with EHCPs than nationally, regionally and statistical neighbours.
• At the time of the SEN2 return (January 2024) the local area maintained 3317 EHCPs, a 15.5% increase from 2023. Nationally, in 2023 there was a 11.4% increase, 15.1% regionally and 14.3% increase for our statistical neighbours.

Requests and assessment

• There were 643 new EHCNAs during the 2023 calendar year, up from 600 in 2022. Of these 643 requests, 220 were refused.  This equates to 34.2% of all requests, up from 26.9% the previous year. Nationally, 24.0% of requests were refused, up from 22.1% in 2022.
• The number of assessments carried out and the percentage of assessments resulting in an EHCP being issued both increased with a much higher percentage than national resulting in a decision not to issue a plan. Nationally this decreased from 5.8% in 2022 to 5.1% in 2023, locally Oldham saw a decrease from 16.9% in 2022 to 14.4% for 2023.
• 567 EHCNAs were completed in the 2023 calendar year, up from 437 the previous year.  Of the assessments carried out, 14.4% resulted in a decision not to issue a plan, down from 16.9% in 2022.  Nationally, 3.5% of assessments resulted in an EHCP not being issued, down from 4.9% in 2022.

Rate of EHCPs, excluding exceptions, issued within 20 weeks

• Timeliness of EHCPs remains significantly above national and regional performance.  Also, this is now above our statistical neighbours.
• In the 2023 calendar year, 85.7% of EHCPs were issued within 20 weeks, excluding exceptions.  This is an 8.4 percentage point decrease from the 94.1 % in 2022.
• Nationally in 2023 there was a 1.1 percentage point increase from 49.2 % to 50.3%, and a 6.0 percentage point decrease from 62.7 % to 56.7% regionally.

Rate of EHCPs, including exceptions, issued within 20 weeks

• Timeliness of EHCPs remains above national, regional and statistical neighbours.
• In the 2022 calendar year, 83.3% of EHCPs were issued within 20 weeks, including exceptions.  This is a 9.8 percentage point decrease from the 93.1 % in 2022. Nationally, there was a 1.4 percentage point increase from 47.7% to 49.1%, and a 5.4 percentage point decrease from 60.2% to 54.8% regionally.  

Number of new EHCPs

• The number of EHCPs issued increased was significantly higher than the increase seen nationally, regionally and statistical neighbours.
• 437 new EHCPs were issued by the SEND Team in the 2023 calendar year, a 31.6% increase on the 332 EHCPs in the 2022 calendar year.  Nationally, in 2023 there was a 26.6% increase, 28.0% increase regionally and a 47.8% increase for our statistical neighbours.

New EHCPs by age

• 39.0% of new EHCPs were issued for ages 5 – 10, the national average stood at 44.1%.
• The percentage of new EHCPs issued for children aged 0-5 saw an increase from 17.9% for the 2022 calendar year to 34.1% for the 2023 calendar year and is above the national average of 24.9% (up from 24.8%). 
• The percentage of new EHCPs issued for the 5 – 10 age group decreased from 47.6% to 39.0% and is below the national average of 44.1% (down from 44.7%).
• The percentage of new EHCPs issued for the age 11 – 15 group decreased from 30.9% to 23.9%, it is below the national average of 26.1% (up from 25.7%).
• The percentage of new EHCPs issued for the age 16 – 19 group saw a decrease from 3.7% to 2.9% and remains below the national average of 4.6% (down from 4.7%).
• The percentage of new EHCPs issued for the age 20 – 25 group remained at 0% whilst nationally, there was an increase from 0.2% to 0.3%.

Figure 1: Percentage of new EHCPs issued by age band
Source: SEN2, January 2024 & gov.uk

EHCPs by age

• Children of compulsory school age (5 – 15) continue to account for over two thirds of EHCPs locally in 2023, (70.6% - up from 66.0% in 2022), in comparison to 81.6% nationally, down from 82.2% in 2023.
• The percentage of EHCPs maintained for children aged 0-5 saw an increase from 4.0% at January 2023 to 6.9% in January 2024. Nationally, the percentage in 2024 increased from 4.1% to 4.6%.
• The percentage of EHCPs for the 5 – 10 age group decreased from34.5% to 32.9% and is now above the national average in 2023, which increased from 32.6% to 32.7%.
• The percentage of EHCPs for the 11 – 15 age group decreased from 36.8% to 34.6% and is below the national average in 2023 of 36.4% (up from 36.0%).
• The percentage of EHCPs for the 16 – 19 age group saw a decrease from 20.4% to 19.6% and is now below the national average of 20.1% (down from 20.5%).
• The percentage of EHCPs for the 19 – 25 age group increased from 4.3% to 5.9% and is now below the national average of 6.2% (down from 6.8%).

Figure 2: EHCPs by age band
Source: SEN2, January 2024 & gov.uk

EHCPs by establishment type

• 40.8% of children and young people with an EHCP were educated in maintained mainstream settings, an increase from 40.1%.  Nationally, this increased from 41.3% to 43.3%.
• 20.7% of children and young people with an EHCP were educated in a maintained academy, an increase from 17.5%.  Nationally, this has increased from 18.8% to 21.1%.
• 1.9% of children and young people with an EHCP were educated in INMSS, this remained unchanged from 2022 a decrease from 2.9%.  Nationally, this increased from 5.0% to 5.2%.
• 0.9% of children and young people with an EHCP were educated in a specialist SEND unit or resourced provision, a decrease from 1.3%.  Nationally, this decreased from 3.9% to 3.8%.
• 11.8% of children and young people with an EHCP were educated in a post-16 setting.  It is now below the national average which decreased to 14.6% from 14.8%.
• 2.4% of children and young people with an EHCP were educated elsewhere, down from 3.5%.  Nationally, this also reduced from 3.9% to 2.6%.
• 0.6% of children and young people with an EHCP were electively home educated (EHE), down from 0.7% in 2023.  Nationally, this figure increased to from 0.8% to 1.0%.

Figure 3: EHCPs by establishment type
Source: SEN2, January 2024 & gov.uk

Mediation and tribunals

• The number of EHCP cases going to mediation has increased.  The percentage that went on to appeal also increased.
• 211 EHCP cases went to mediation in the 2023 calendar year, an increase of 227% on the 93 the previous year of 2022. Nationally, the total number of cases increased by 174% from 5900 to 10,300.
• 8.6% of mediation cases went on to appeal, this is an increase on the 6.3% the previous year.

Further Information & Resources

Special Educational Needs in England - Academic year 2023/24
This publication combines information from the school census (state-funded schools), school level annual school census (independent schools) and general hospital school census on pupils with special educational needs (SEN).

Education, Health and Care Plans, reporting year 2024
This publication provides data on children and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan in England and, historically, for those with a statement of special educational needs (SEN).

POINT Oldham - Additional needs and disabilities information, advice, support & empowerment
POINT aspire to an inclusive community and society without compromise, where all children and young people with additional needs and/or disabilities are treated equally and fairly.


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