2024支持特殊教育需求儿童及青少年研究报告

Support for children andyoung people with special Department for Education We are the UK’sindependentpublic spending The National Audit Office (NAO) scrutinises public spendingfor Parliament and is independent of government and the civilservice. We help Parliament hold government to account and The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), Gareth Davies,is an Officer of the House of Commons and leads the NAO.We audit the financial accounts of departments and other In 2023, the NAO’s work led to a positive financial impactthrough reduced costs, improved service delivery, or otherbenefits to citizens, of £1.59 billion. This represents around Support for children andyoung people with special Department for Education Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General Ordered by the House of Commonsto be printed on 22 October 2024 This report has been prepared under Section 6 of theNational Audit Act 1983 for presentation to the House Gareth DaviesComptroller and Auditor GeneralNational Audit Office16 October 2024 HC 299|£10.00 Value for money reports Our value for money reports examine governmentexpenditure in order to form a judgement on whethervalue for money has been achieved. We also make The material featured in this document is subject to National AuditOffice (NAO) copyright. The material may be copied or reproduced Copying for non-commercial purposes is subject to the materialbeing accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement, reproducedaccurately, and not being used in a misleading context. To reproduceNAO copyright material for any other use, you must contact Please note that the material featured in this document may notbe reproduced for commercial gain without the NAO’s express anddirect permission and that the NAO reserves its right to pursue Links to external websites were valid at the time of publication ofthis report. The National Audit Office is not responsible for the future 01502610/24 NAO© National Audit Office 2024 Contents This report can be found on theNational Audit Office website at If you need a version of thisreport in an alternative formatfor accessibility reasons, orany of the figures in a different Key facts4 Summary5 Part OneDfE’s ambitions for the SEN system13 The National Audit Office studyteam consisted of: Part TwoSecuring long-term systemic Charlie Acton,Harry Hagger Johnson,Rose Martin, David Raraty and Appendix OneOur audit approach46 Appendix TwoData on SEN prevalence52 For further information about theNational Audit Office please contact: National Audit OfficePress Office157–197 Buckingham Palace RoadVictoria Key facts £10.7bn69% DfE’s 2024-25 budget forlocal authorities’, schools’and colleges’ spending oneducational support forchildren with higher needs proportion of young peoplewith SEN at key stage 4 who,in 2021/22, were in sustainededucation, employment ortraining after leaving 16 to 18study compared to 85% forthose without Summary 1Based on an NAO estimate, around 1.9 million children and young peopleaged 0 to 25 years in England (11%) were identified as having special educationalneeds (SEN) in January 2024, with 1.7 million at school. A child or young personhas SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which means they need 2There are two categories of support for children with SEN, which broadlyreflect their level of need. Most will receive additional support at school, whichwe describe in this report as ‘SEN support’. However, if a child’s needs cannot bemet, they have a legally enforceable entitlement to specific support set out in aneducation, health and care (EHC) plan. Between 2015 and 2024 there was a 140% 3The Department for Education (DfE) is accountable to Parliament for theSEN system and alternative provision, alongside securing value for money fromthe funding it provides, through local authorities, to schools and other educationsettings. Local authorities, working with national and local bodies, have a statutory 4Through the Children and Families Act 2014, government aimed to introducesignificant changes to the SEN system for: children’s needs to be identifiedearlier; families to be more involved; mainstream schools to be inclusive; supportservices to be better integrated; and appropriate support to remain up to age 25. 5DfE and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) jointly publishedreview findings in a March 2022 green paper, which found the system created“vicious cycles” of worsening performance with needs being identified late,insufficient capacity, and a lack of confidence in the system. In March 2023, Focus of our report 6This report assesses how well the current system is delivering for children andyoung people (from birth to 25 years) in England identified as having SEN. It alsolooks at DfE’s progress in addressing the underlying challenges to providing a •describes the support available, outcomes achieved for those with SEN,DfE funding, and DfE’s strategic approach (Part One); and •examine