Official Statistics

Main findings: area SEND inspections and outcomes in England as at 31 March 2021

Published 7 May 2021

Applies to England

Summary

This is the main findings report for the area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspections and outcomes in England 2021 release. The following are also available:

• underlying data
• pre-release access list

This release contains:

• the number of inspections and outcomes for area SEND inspections carried out between May 2016 and March 2021
• the number of re-visits and outcomes for area SEND re-visits carried out between December 2018 and March 2021
• the number of area SEND interim visits carried out between October 2020 and March 2021

lmpact of COVID-19 (coronavirus)

On 17 March 2020, all routine Ofsted inspections were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we suspended area SEND inspections and re-visits to local areas that had been required to produce a written statement of action (WSoA). We have included all reports published by 31 March 2021 in this release.

Between October 2020 and March 2021, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out a series of interim area SEND visits, visiting 10 local areas across the country. Participating local areas will remain anonymous, but learning has been shared in several thematic national reports.

Main findings

Since 2016, Ofsted and the CQC have carried out joint inspections of SEND arrangements in 116 of the 151 local areas across England.

Just over half (59 out of 116) of the areas inspected have been required to produce and submit a WSoA to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI). This is an indication of significant weaknesses in the local areas’ SEND arrangements.

The proportion of local areas required to produce a WSoA varies across the country. At a regional level, the proportion of local areas with a WSoA ranges from 1 in 4 in London, to more than 4 out of 5 in the East of England.

Inspection outcomes have not varied much in the last 3 years. Relatively similar proportions of local areas have been required to produce a WSoA each year, from just over half to under two thirds.

Twenty-one local areas have received a re-visit. Inspectors determined that 9 local areas were making sufficient progress in addressing all the significant weaknesses identified during their initial inspection.

Introduction

Children and young people with SEND often receive many different services, from the universal to the specialist. These could be provided by: nurseries, schools or colleges; specialist therapists; and/or professionals in education, health and social care.

In January 2020, there were 390,000 children and young people aged up to 25 with an education, health and care (EHC) plan. There were also over 1 million pupils receiving SEN support in school. Overall, more than 15% of children and young people in school are designated as having SEN.

Under the Children and Families Act 2014, the government placed new duties on the local health, social and education services that provide for these children and young people. The special educational needs code of practice was updated to reflect these new duties.

We carry out inspections under section 20 of the Children Act 2004. Under the local area SEND inspection framework, inspectors look for evidence of how children and young people (from birth to age 25) with SEND are identified, how their needs are assessed and met, and how they are supported to move on to their next stage of education, the world of work and wider preparation for adulthood. Inspectors also look at the way in which local areas are meeting their duties under the Equality Act 2010.

The ‘local area’ is the geographical area of the local authority. This includes the local authority, clinical commissioning groups, public health, NHS England for specialist services, early years settings, schools and further education providers. The responsibility of the local area for children and young people who have SEND extends to those who are residents of the local area but attend educational establishments or receive services outside the local authority’s boundaries.

We report on the outcome of the inspection in a published letter with judgements in narrative form rather than a 4-point grading scale. The letter outlines areas of strength and key priorities for improvement.

Where HMCI has determined that a WSoA is required, local area leaders must set out how they will tackle the areas of significant weakness within 70 days of receiving the pre-publication inspection letter. The Department for Education (DfE), working with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England when relevant, will seek to engage closely with the local area. If the inspection outcome does not result in a WSoA, the local area is deemed to be meeting its statutory duties in relation to children and young people with SEND. However, this does not mean that the local area cannot do more. Inspectors outline areas for improvement in the inspection letter.

Area SEND inspection outcomes as at 31 March 2021

Ofsted and the CQC have carried out joint inspections of area SEND arrangements since 2016. When routine inspections were suspended in March 2020 due to COVID-19, a total of 116 inspections had taken place.^{[footnote 1]} This leaves 34 local areas in the initial 5-year inspection programme.

In around half (51%) of area SEND inspections, inspectors had significant concerns about how effectively the local area was meeting its duties or securing better outcomes for children and young people who have SEND. In these 59 cases, HMCI deemed that a WSoA was required.

Figure 1: Area SEND inspection outcomes as at 31 March 2021

^{Download a zip file with the underlying data in csv format.}

Inspection outcomes by year

The selection of local areas inspected in a given year aimed to ensure as even a spread across the country as possible. It also took into account the timing of other Ofsted and CQC inspection activity to avoid undue burden being placed on local areas.

Inspections during the first year (2016–17) had the highest proportion of local areas that were not required to produce a WSoA, at just under three quarters of the 29 local areas inspected. However, all subsequent years had much lower proportions than year 1, varying from just under half in year 2 (2017–18) to just over a third in year 3 (2018–19), where 12 out of 33 local areas did not require a WSoA.

Figure 2: Area SEND inspection outcomes by year as at 31 March 2021

<sup>1. Number of local areas inspected in brackets.
2. The reporting year reflects 3 academic terms of area SEND inspections from their inception in the 2016 summer term. Each year covers the summer, autumn and spring terms and effectively runs from April to March.
3. We deferred several inspections that were planned for the end of year 4 due to COVID-19 restrictions. If we had continued as planned, we would have carried out a similar number of inspections to previous years.
Download a zip file with the underlying data in csv format.</sup>

Inspection outcomes by region

The proportion of local areas required to produce a WSoA varied across the country, from 1 in 4 in London, to more than 4 out of 5 in the East of England.

Only 3 of the 8 Ofsted regions have a greater proportion of local areas without a WSoA than with a WSoA. These are London, the East Midlands and the South East.

Figure 3: Area SEND inspection outcomes by region as at 31 March 2021

<sup>1. Number of local areas per region in brackets.
2. Percentages are rounded and may not add to 100.
3. Percentages reflect the number of inspections for each region and exclude local areas that we have not inspected yet.
Download a zip file with the underlying data in csv format.</sup>

Inspection outcomes by local authority type

One type of local authority, London boroughs, have a significantly lower proportion of local areas with a WSoA compared to all other types of local authority, which are similar to each other. This has been consistent over time, with London boroughs having the lowest proportion requiring a WSoA each year.

Within London there was some variation. Inner London had a small minority (1 out of 9) of local areas with a WSoA, outer London a third (5 out of 15 local areas).

Figure 4: Area SEND inspection outcomes by local authority type as at 31 March 2021

<sup>1. Number of local areas by local authority type in brackets.
2. Percentages reflect number of inspections for each local authority type and exclude local areas that we have not inspected yet.
Download a zip file with the underlying data in csv format.</sup>

Inspection outcomes by deprivation and population

Local areas in the ‘most deprived’ quintile of deprivation were the most likely to require a WSoA, with around two thirds of these local areas having a WSoA. There is some variability across the other deprivation bands, however, with the second quintile (‘more deprived’) having the lowest proportion of local areas with a WSoA at just over a third and the fifth quintile (‘least deprived’) being evenly split. It is not clear if this is an indication of a relationship between the level of deprivation and the inspection outcome.

Table 1: Area SEND inspection outcomes by level of deprivation as at 31 March 2021

Deprivation	No written statement of action	Written statement of action required
Most deprived	8	14
More deprived	13	8
Average deprivation	13	11
Less deprived	11	14
Least deprived	12	12

<sup>1. Deprivation quintiles based on 2019 income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI) rank of average score.
2. Numbers represent local areas inspected.</sup>

Inspection outcomes do not seem to be adversely affected by the size of the local area’s population. Analysis shows a reasonably consistent split, whether it be for those children and young people within the scope of these inspections (birth to age 25), or for residents of all ages.

Local areas not inspected yet by region

There are 34 local areas that have not been inspected yet. Over half of these are from 2 regions, London (9) and North East, Yorkshire and Humber (9). All local areas in the East of England have been inspected.

Figure 5: Local areas not inspected yet by region as at 31 March 2021

<sup>1. Number of local areas per region in brackets.
2. Percentages reflect number of local areas not inspected yet within each region.
Download a zip file with the underlying data in csv format.</sup>

Area SEND re-visits and outcomes as at 31 March 2021

Ofsted and the CQC do not carry out routine monitoring inspections of local areas with a WSoA. The purpose of re-visits is to determine whether the local area has made sufficient progress in addressing the areas of significant weakness in the WSoA. Up to March 2020, when area SEND inspections were suspended, our intention was to re-visit the local area within 18 months of the WSoA being declared fit for purpose and, if possible involving the same inspectors who carried out the initial inspection.

The first re-visit was in December 2018. By March 2020, when inspections and re-visits were suspended due to COVID-19, we had carried out a total of 21 re-visits, or just over a third of the 59 local areas with a WSoA so far. ^{[footnote 2]}

Re-visit outcomes

Inspectors found that most local areas were making at least some progress in addressing significant weaknesses. They established that just under half of local areas (9) were making sufficient progress in addressing all significant weaknesses. They found just over half of local areas (11) had made progress in addressing some, but not all, significant weaknesses. One local area was found to have not made sufficient progress in any of its significant weaknesses when inspectors re-visited.

As at 31 March 2021, there are 38 local areas that have been required to produce a WSoA and are yet to receive a re-visit to assess their progress.

It is worth noting that a higher number of significant weaknesses does not mean that they carry greater cumulative weight than a lower number, because some weaknesses may be more significant or more complex than others.

Table 2: All area SEND re-visit outcomes as at 31 March 2021

Local area	Sufficient progress in addressing all significant weaknesses	Number of significant weaknesses identified in WSoA	Number of significant weaknesses where sufficient progress has been made	Number of significant weaknesses where sufficient progress has not been made
Bedford	Yes	5	5	0
Brent	Yes	5	5	0
Bury	Some	8	5	3
Durham	Yes	4	4	0
Hartlepool	Some	4	2	2
Kingston upon Hull	Some	4	2	2
Lancashire	Some	12	7	5
Medway	Some	8	5	3
Middlesbrough	Yes	4	4	0
Oldham	Some	5	3	2
Oxfordshire	Some	5	3	2
Rochdale	Yes	4	4	0
Sandwell	Yes	5	5	0
Sefton	No	5	0	5
South Gloucestershire	Some	8	6	2
Suffolk	Some	4	1	3
Surrey	Some	5	4	1
Sutton	Yes	3	3	0
Wakefield	Yes	1	1	0
Waltham Forest	Yes	3	3	0
Windsor and Maidenhead	Some	8	6	2

In July 2019, the DfE issued an improvement notice to Sefton, to improve services for children and young people with SEND. In March 2020, the DfE issued a statutory direction to Kingston upon Hull City, for both poor performance in children’s social care services and a lack of progress in addressing weaknesses in SEND service provision.

Glossary

Definitions of terms are in the statistical glossary.

Further information

Local government structural changes

Local government structural changes have taken place in several areas over recent years. As at the date of this publication, we have inspected only one area (Dorset) before its boundaries changed.

We inspected Dorset in January 2017 and required a WSoA. A re-visit took place in February 2019, where sufficient progress had been made against some but not all of the weaknesses identified in its WSoA. On 1 April 2019, the geographical boundaries for Dorset changed, so the area as it was constituted at the point that we inspected it is now historical. As a result of the boundary change, the inspection and re-visit are not included in these statistics.

Contacts

If you are a member of the public and have any comments or feedback on this publication, contact Adam King on 0300 013 0020 or the social care data and analysis team on [email protected].

Press enquiries should be sent to our press team on [email protected].

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Richard Fisher for his contribution to this statistical release.

1. Dorset was inspected before local government boundary changes in April 2019 and is not included in these figures. It required a WSoA. ↩

2. Dorset received a re-visit before local government boundary changes in April 2019 and is not included in these figures. It was deemed to be making sufficient progress in addressing some but not all significant weaknesses. ↩