Hello, my name is Ann Tailford and I work in the Education Data Division at the Department
for Education. I’m here to talk to you about special educational needs data which are returned
in the school census. This is one of a series of videos related to the school census and
should be watched in conjunction with the others.
This slide lists the topic areas I will be covering in the presentation.
Prior to making a school census submission to the Department, it is important that all
schools ensure that the SEN data held within the school MIS, and being output as part of
the census, is accurate and up to date.
School census contacts within schools should check the data held within their MIS with
their local SEN co-ordinator prior to running their census return.
The Children and Families Act 2014 replaced SEN statements with Education, Health and
Care plans. Where a pupil has an existing statement and a transfer review to an EHC
plan has not taken place, the 2001 code continues to apply.
During the transitional period schools are able to record pupils as having an SEN provision
of either ‘S’ (statement) or ‘E’ (EHC plan). Schools may have some pupils with statements
and some who have already moved to EHC plans but no individual pupil can have both.
An EHC plan is not the rebadging of a statement. To ensure that EHC plans are person-centred
and focused on outcomes, an EHC plan must only be issued following an EHC needs assessment.
At the time of the census any statements under review should be recorded as code ‘S’.
The EHC plan code ‘E’ should only be used when the local authority has agreed a final plan.
Where a pupil has an existing statement, they must not be recorded as having an EHC
plan without first completing a review. Pupils identified as having the need for SEN
support but without a statement or EHC plan should be recorded with an SEN provision of
SEN support – code ‘K’.
Pupils whose requirements are met without the need for special educational needs support
should be recorded on the census using no SEN provision - code ‘N’.
SEN units are special provisions within a mainstream school where pupils are usually
taught within separate classes. The unit will receive additional funding from the local
authority specifically for the purpose of the provision. They will cater for a specific
type or types of SEN and are usually for pupils with a statement of SEN or an education, health
and care plan.
Most pupils placed in units will have the unit written into their statement of special
educational needs or EHC plan.
Resourced provisions are places reserved at a mainstream school for pupils with a specific
type of need, taught usually within mainstream classes, but requiring a base and some specialist
facilities around the school.
Resourced provisions receive additional funding from the local authority specifically for
the purpose of the provision. They will cater for a specific area or areas of SEN and are
usually for pupils with statements of SEN or an education, health and care plan - but
could include pupils who require SEN support.
Most local authorities include details of what will be provided through a resourced
provision in a pupil’s statement of special educational needs or education, health and
care plan. It is extremely unlikely that a child would
be placed in an SEN unit and also receive support from a resourced provision, but a
school could have resourced provision for one type of need and a unit for another.
The spring school census collects the type of need for pupils who have an SEN provision
of ‘S’, ‘E’ or K. The primary and, if relevant, the secondary need are collected.
This slide provides the codes for each need as outlined in the SEN code of practice.
Top up funding indicator is a true/false flag to indicate those pupils on roll for whom the school, at the
point of the census, is in receipt of top-up funding - either from a local authority or,
in the case of a PRU / AP academy, a local authority or another school.
Top-up funding is paid outside a school’s budget share or General Annual Grant and relates
to a pupil or student identified as requiring additional support, which costs more than
a specified threshold. In many cases, the period for which top-up funding is paid may
not be defined but it will be subject to period review, as will the SEN provision to which it relates.
Locally this top-up funding may be known by a different name: in cases of doubt, schools
should check with their local authority to make sure that this is recorded correctly
for each individual pupil.
This indicator is used as a checking tool for pre 16 pupils. However, for post 16, it
is used in funding calculations.
This slide provides links which you may require before and during the live collection. More
information about how to submit your census data to us, including details about what data
is collected for each termly school census, can be found on the school census page. Please
take some time to read these documents, as they are designed help you fulfil your statutory
requirements and successfully complete and submit an accurate set of census data.
In addition to the online documents we also provide a data collection forum.
The purpose of the forum is to provide a facility to allow customers to exchange ideas and good
practice relating to specific data collections and related EDD systems
(e.g. COLLECT, school to school).
You will require a username and password to access the forum. If you do not already have a
username and password, or if you have any questions about the facility, please complete
a service request form.
I do hope you have found this presentation helpful. Thank you.