MPs find flaws in special needs

England’s special educational needs system is “not fit for purpose” and needs to be urgently overhauled, MPs said this week.

A report from the Commons education and skills committee found flaws in the consistency of provision, the statementing process and teacher training within the SEN system.

It called for local authorities to be given a statutory duty to provide a broad range of SEN provision, including high quality special schools, and for minimum standards to be introduced.

The MPs said the government was giving out a confused message to councils over whether pupils with SEN should be taught within special or mainstream schools, and that ministers needed to produce a clear, over-arching strategy for SEN.

They also found inconclusive evidence about whether city academies were treating children with SEN unfairly.