Sutton Trust Reports Reveals That Low Income Familes Are Facing Major Inequalities To Access SEND Support

Sutton Trust have released a new report called Double Disadvantage, revealing children with special educational needs from low-income families are facing major inequalities in access to support. Children from poorer homes are less likely to secure an Education, Health and Care Plan or gain a special school place, and have lower outcomes at Key Stage 4 than SEND pupils from better-off backgrounds. More affluent parents are better able to navigate the system, secure an EHCP, reduce waiting times for assessments, and use the tribunal system successfully.

• New report reveals disadvantaged children more likely to have special needs and also less likely to get specialist support.
• Children from poorer homes are less likely to secure an EHCP, less likely to get a special school place, and their families are less likely to be happy with the support their children are receiving.
• Children with SEND who are eligible for free school meals suffer a double disadvantage, with lower outcomes at age 16.

Children with special educational needs from low-income families are facing major inequalities in access to support, according to new research published today by the Sutton Trust. The charity is warning of the double disadvantage for children with SEND from poorer families, who are less able to navigate the system than more affluent parents.

Despite only 26% of children qualifying for free school meals, they account for 44% of those with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), and 39% of those receiving SEND support without an EHCP. This means pupils from low-income families are disproportionately more likely to have special needs that require extra support.

And children eligible for free school meals are over-represented in every category of SEND, most notably in ‘Moderate Learning Difficulties’, ‘Severe Learning Difficulties’ and ‘Social, Emotional and Mental Health’.

Only 7.5% of Free School Meals Pupils with an EHCP received a 4+ (a standard pass) in English and Maths

These pupils experience a double disadvantage at school – children with SEND who receive free school meals have lower outcomes at Key Stage 4 than their better off peers with SEND. In 2023/2024, only 7.5% of FSM pupils with an EHCP received a 4+ (a standard pass) in English and Maths, compared to 17% of those with an EHCP from better-off families.

EHCPs are legally binding documents outlining a child’s needs and the support required, as opposed to the looser category of ‘SEND Support’. Among all children with SEND, those from more affluent homes are more likely to secure an EHCP, in part through families spending more money on the process. 68% of middle-class parents spent money on their EHCP application, compared to just 28% of working-class parents. 11% of middle-class parents spent over £5,000 on their application.

Better off families were also more likely to secure special school places for their children with SEND. 41% reported securing a special school place, compared to just 25% of low-income parents. 12% of parents in special schools had spent over £5,000 on their EHCP compared to 1% of those in mainstream schools.

One reason for this is that more affluent families are more likely to use tribunals. 22% of more affluent parents successfully used the tribunal system after an initial EHCP rejection, compared to just 15% of lower-income parents. And independent special school places secured through EHCPs were twice as likely to result from a tribunal or appeal, compared to state special school places.

The report also found disparities in parents’ satisfaction with the support for their children. Middle class parents were more likely than working class parents to be happy with the support their children with SEND were receiving in terms of academic performance, behaviour, interpersonal relationships, pastoral care, and other areas.  

These differences highlight a broken system, with a clear economic divide among those who can secure the support their children need, as Charlotte O’Regan, Senior Schools Manager at the Sutton Trust, explains:

“Parents who pay to access better support are a symptom of this broken system, not its cause. With horrendous waiting times across England and many requests for support being declined, it’s only natural that parents with sufficient means would go to a private service to help their children. The system shouldn’t force parents to pay to get the support their children need.”

Regardless of income status, the report also shows the heavy financial impact that having a child with SEND can have on families. 16% of parents reported leaving employment to support their child. 16% reported changing their job, and 27% reduced their working hours. 14% of families reported going into debt to pay for the resources their child needed.

With the Government due to publish its plans to reform the SEND system, the Sutton Trust is calling for the process to be simplified so that all parents stand a fairer chance accessing support. The Government should also recognise and act to mitigate the relationship between child poverty and SEND, and take measures to cut the diagnosis backlog and waiting times for families so they do not feel forced to pay for more timely support.

Nick Harrison, CEO of the Sutton Trust, said:

“We all know the SEND system is in crisis, and these findings show startling inequalities in who is able to access support. It’s unacceptable that a child’s background can dictate whether they get the help they need to thrive and be happy at school. This is a major barrier to their opportunities and can profoundly impact their long-term prospects.

“Right now, disadvantaged kids with SEND are being failed by a system beset with inconsistency and mind-boggling bureaucracy. Getting the right support for a child shouldn’t be about a parent’s ability to pay. We need urgent action to make the system work better for everyone.”

Sector Reaction

Commenting on a report from the Sutton Trust, which reveals that children with special educational needs from low-income families are facing major inequalities in access to support, Margaret Mulholland, SEND and Inclusion Specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“This report provides yet more evidence of a special educational needs system which isn’t working well for children and young people, and where those from the poorest homes are the worst affected. Schools and colleges work tirelessly to support these students but they are critically under-resourced and face wider problems of delays to assessments for education, health, and care plans, and shortages of specialist staff such as speech and language therapists. Desperate families often pay for assessments themselves and fight for the level of care they want for their child through tribunals. But such measures are often more difficult for disadvantaged families and this means that we effectively have a two-tier system.

“The government is planning to publish reforms to the SEND system in a white paper in the coming months and there is no question that change is desperately needed. But it must be based on ensuring that the system is resourced to meet the level of need or otherwise we are just going to end up back in the same loop. This is certainly about adequate funding, but it is also about ensuring that SEND training is embedded throughout the system, that schools and colleges have access to the specialist staff they need, and that education policy is always formulated with the needs of these children and young people in mind.”

Responding to a new report from the Sutton Trust, which found children with special educational needs (SEND) from poorer homes are less likely to secure an Education Health Care and Plan, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“While there have been big increases in the number of children with additional needs, years of cuts to services offering early help to families, followed by the pandemic, may have had a particular impact on young people from poorer backgrounds.

“The system has been unable to cope with demand, and government funding for SEND has not increased by nearly enough, meaning resources for schools to provide support have frequently been spread more thinly, exacerbating a situation in which parents too often feel they have to fight for EHCPs.

“Support should be based on children’s needs, not where in the country they happen to live, the ability of their parents to make the case, or whether or not they have an EHCP – which given shortages of funding and specialist staff is far from a silver bullet to ensure pupils get all the help they need.

“That’s why we want the government’s proposed reforms to the SEND system to invest in schools, social care and health services to ensure all families get earlier help to identify emerging issues and put in place support before there is even a need for a plan.”