Schools misdiagnosing children with special educational needs

A wide-ranging review of special educational needs provision by Oftsed concluded that many children would not be identified as having SEN if schools focused on improving teaching and learning.

Ofsted said that the term SEN was used too widely. One in five of the 1.7m school-age children in England is identified as having SEN.

Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert said, ‘Although we saw some excellent support for children with special educational needs, and a huge investment of resources, overall there needs to be a shift in direction.’

'With over one in five children of school age in England identified as having special educational needs, it is vitally important that both the way they are identified, and the support they receive, work in the best interests of the children involved. Higher expectations of all children, and better teaching and learning, would lead to fewer children being identified as having special educational needs.’

Ofsted visited 228 nurseries, schools and colleges in 22 local authorities and carried out detailed case studies with 345 children and young people with SEN and disabilities.

• In areas where the formula funding for schools took into account the number of children with SEN, this gave 'an obvious motivation for schools to identify more such children'       

• Some schools believed that identifying more children with SEN would improve their Ofsted inspection score

• The number of children diagnosed with SEN that require extra support but whose needs are not considered severe enough for a statement of special educational needs has risen from 14 per cent in 2003 to 18 per cent in 2010

• The number of children with a statement has dropped slightly from 3 per cent to 2.7 per cent over the same time period

• Three times as many boys as girls are given a statement of SEN in primary and secondary schools (2010)

• No one type of provision – special school, inclusion in a mainstream setting, or specialist unit in a mainstream setting -  worked better than any other

• Children identified as having SEN at any level generally received some extra support or resources but it was not always appropriate. For example, some children were given support for their behaviour, when they had specific communication needs

• Children with the most obvious and severe needs were given access to appropriate provision at an early age but some children were not able to access specialist provision unless they had a medical diagnosis.

The report said, ‘Around half the schools and early years provision visited used low attainment and relatively slow progress as their principal indicators of a special educational need.

'In nearly a fifth of these cases, there was very little further assessment. Inspectors saw schools that identified pupils as having special educational needs when in fact, their needs were no different from those of most other pupils.’

Good practice in the early years

Two assessment approaches in early years are highlighted in the report for being effective at identifying children’s needs quickly and supporting parents.

MAISEY (Multi-agency Intervention and Support in Early Years) in a local authority was complemented by ARCHEY (Action and Review for Children in the Early Years). ‘Good outcomes were observed from two local authorities using this approach, both in relation to pupils’ progress and well-being and in parents’ confidence in the system,’ the report said.

Early years settings were also found to have a more holistic approach, identifying the needs of the child within the family and community. ‘The system was less geared up to provide such an all-round approach for older children than for those in the early years.’

Children’s centres inspected as part of the review were praised for provision that ‘enabled children and their parents or carers to have access to therapy and additional support early in their child’s life without time-consuming assessments’.

‘Insulting and wrong’

Teaching unions dismissed Ofsted’s claims that too many children were being diagnosed with SEN.

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said, ‘Teachers do a great job in often very difficult circumstances to meet the needs of all their pupils, and for Ofsted to suggest otherwise is both insulting and wrong.

‘It is of course important for parents to have every confidence in the SEN provision their children receive and to know that their child is being taught by fully qualified teachers.

‘It is also vitally important for teachers to feel that they have received the sufficient and training and support they need in the classroom. All too often schools are left without the necessary back up and support that is required.’

Russell Hobby, general secretary, NAHT, said, ‘We would also suggest that Ofsted need to recognise that poverty, neglect and emotional deprivation can have such a significant impact on a child’s readiness or ability to engage with formal teaching and learning that identification as SEN may well be appropriate, as that child undoubtedly will need additional support.

'There is no evidence in the report of systematic over-statementing of children in order to gain additional resources or improve performance scores. Teachers want children to get what they deserve and, together with parents and the children themselves, fight hard to achieve this. We should not find this surprising or reprehensible.’