Lack of SEN support leads to a sharp rise in school absence and EHC plan requests

4 mins read

Monday 31 March 2025

This applies in England only.

There is not enough SEN support in mainstream schools for children with special education needs (SEN), leading many families to seek an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan to secure the support their child needs.

These are the results of our survey of more than 2,000 families of children with SEN in England, published last night on Channel 4 News.

SEN support is help available in schools to children who have SEN but don’t have an EHC plan. It includes help such as small group support, adult help during break and lunchtimes and speech and language support.

Lack of support leads to avoidance and exclusions

As a result of mainstream schools being unable to meet all of a pupil’s needs through SEN support:

  • 20% of schools had asked for an EHC plan.
  • 35% of parents had asked for an EHC plan.

The impact on pupils of not getting any or enough SEN support includes:

Other key findings include:

  • 33% of children with SEN are receiving emotional SEN support including feeling fans and class exit cards.
  • Just 9% are getting speech, language and communication support. This was the least commonly available, despite research showing that speech and language is critical to a child’s development and wellbeing
  • Over a third of respondents (35%) said that funding was the reason schools gave for not providing adequate SEN support.
  • A fifth of children with special educational needs are not getting SEN support.

We ran the survey with the charity IPSEA. Both Contact and IPSEA provide helplines. Both have seen large increases in calls from families whose children aren’t getting the right support in school.

Contact & IPSEA call for statutory footing for SEN Support

Anna Bird, Chief Executive of Contact, spoke on Channel 4 News alongside parent carer Lauren and her son Alex.

Anna said:

“The government says it wants more children to feel supported and included at mainstream school. It’s important that we get that right. Our survey shows that the mainstream offer is currently not working for children, families or schools. This means too many children with SEN are being failed, missing school and parents forced out of paid work to deal with the fall out.

“We are calling for SEN support to be made a stronger part of a school’s duties. We believe this will ensure more children are able to enjoy and take full part in school without going through a legal process to get an EHC plan.”

Madeleine Cassidy, Chief Executive of IPSEA, commented:

“The findings from this survey reinforce what we hear at IPSEA from families every day. The lack of enforceability of SEN support means too many children struggle to get adequate support in mainstream schools. The sharp rise in EHC plans we see year-on-year also reflects the reality that, for many families, an EHC plan is the only route to securing the support their child needs.

If SEN support were placed on a statutory footing – applying across early years, mainstream schools and further education settings – fewer families would need to go through the legal process of obtaining an EHC plan simply to get the right support for their child.”

Taking the results to parliament – invite your MP

Contact is organising an event in parliament to give parents the opportunity to speak about their experiences of SEN support and what changes are needed. The meeting will be hosted by Ben Maguire, MP for North Cornwall.

Use our template email to invite your MP.

Ben Maguire MP, said: “The findings of this survey highlight the urgent need for properly funded and effective SEN support in schools. It is deeply concerning that 21% of children with identified needs receive no support at all, leaving families struggling to access the help their children desperately need.

“The lack of adequate SEN support in schools is driving requests for EHC plans, as parents and schools seek formal assessments to secure the support children should already be receiving. Without the right SEN provision in place, we see higher rates of school absence, avoidance, and exclusions, meaning too many children are being left behind.

“Investing in early intervention, properly trained staff, and better-resourced schools will not only improve outcomes for children with SEN but will also reduce costly crisis interventions and the growing reliance on EHCPs. No parent should have to fight for their child’s right to an education. The Government must act now to deliver a system that works for every child, every family, and every school.”