Tes report examines growing demand for SEND provision

A new report by Tes has revealed SEND admin adds over 10 hours a week for over half of SENCOs, with 91 per cent of educators feel acquiring funding from their local authorities is ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ with delays in acquiring funding adding to the challenge. 

This comes as 86 per cent of respondents believe the SEND population in their school has increased compared to three years ago.

Almost 40 per cent of respondents also said the EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) process regularly exceeded the 20 weeks local authorities work towards, with the report showing just over one in 10 received more than 75 per cent of their funding request. 

Max Lienard, COO at Tes said: “A growing demand for SEND support is putting pressure on every level of the system, with all involved recognising the need for a long-term plan to ensure every pupil can thrive at school.” 

Another key finding was that SEND admin duties for over half of all SENCOs is above 10 hours per week. Previous research by Tes indicated that new tech can really alleviate the administrative burden.

Lienard continued: “We believe that technology plays a key role in streamlining teacher workloads, and by using tech like Tes’ Provision Map SENDCOs are able to considerably reduce the time spent on administrative tasks. This helps schools and trusts ensure that their SEND leads are focusing on pupils, and not pupils' paperwork."

The report also found teacher confidence working with students with SEND requirements was low, with only 35 per cent feeling ‘very confident’. One in five respondents also feel less confident in their practice than they did three years ago, with more than half of respondents citing the increased challenges of delivering SEND support.

Read more