Inclusion plus extra help is best option

Mainstream schools with additional special needs resources offer the best education for children with learning difficulties, according to an Ofsted report.

The education watchdog found effective provision was divided equally between special and mainstream schools, but there was more good and outstanding provision in mainstream schools with additional resources.

Pupil referral units were the least successful in delivering high outcomes for children with learning difficulties.

Pupils with behavioural, social and emotional difficulties were least likely to receive effective support, the report said.

The development of integrated children’s services, as laid out in the Every Child Matters agenda, “had yet to become a reality” in the schools visited, it added.