红桃影视

Ministers鈥� ambition to meet the needs of more pupils in their local mainstream school won鈥檛 be met while pupils with SEND continue to be clustered 鈥渋n a subset of settings鈥�, a report has warned.

The National Foundation for Educational Research said the government must monitor the distribution of pupils with SEND across the school system and 鈥減rioritise a more even spread across schools鈥� to support the ambition for 鈥渓ocal鈥� suitable places.

Bridget Phillipson and her team have put making mainstream schools more inclusive at the heart of their SEND reforms.

But casts doubt on that aim, warning pupils with SEND are 鈥渦nevenly distributed across mainstream schools and that unevenness is growing鈥�.

鈥淭he white paper鈥檚 focus on access to a suitable place in a local school will not be met while pupils with SEND continue to cluster in a subset of settings,鈥� the report said.

They said academy trusts and councils “should therefore routinely monitor the distribution of pupils with EHCPs and SEN support across schools within local areas (including in-year movement) and use this information to identify where intakes appear persistently unrepresentative of local need.鈥�

‘Perceived attainment-inclusion tension’

Although the white paper and Ofsted鈥檚 new approach prioritise inclusive practice, the research organisation鈥檚 evidence 鈥渟uggests there are misaligned incentives which contribute to the 鈥榮tructural steering effect鈥欌��.

For example, leaders reported a 鈥減erceived attainment鈥搃nclusion tension鈥� that can discourage schools from admitting and supporting higher-need pupils.

鈥淚f schools are expected to admit and support pupils with a wider range of needs, inspection and performance measures should more clearly value inclusive practice, appropriate pathways and meaningful progress for pupils with SEND, alongside outcomes for other pupils,鈥� the report said.

Amanda Hopgood, chair of the Local Government Association鈥檚 children, young people and families committee, said: 鈥淥fsted鈥檚 inspection framework should place greater focus on inclusive practice and whether an individual school meets the needs of the community that it serves when inspected.

鈥淭hose schools that are not playing a meaningful role in supporting vulnerable children, including those with SEND and who are care-experienced, should be held to account for their lack of action.鈥�

‘Urgently’ evaluate school inclusion bases

Government evaluation of school-based inclusion bases is also 鈥渦rgent鈥�, because integration is 鈥渃urrently uneven鈥�.

鈥淪ome schools report weak joint working between base and mainstream staff and, in a minority, limited pupil interaction/friendships across the base鈥搈ainstream boundary.鈥�

More than two thirds of schools also reported staffing and resource pressure from operating a SEND unit or resourced provision.

Guidance for the implementation and oversight of inclusion bases should be 鈥渃lear鈥� and 鈥渆vidence-based鈥�, the NFER said.

By collecting evidence on the bases, the DfE can then use it to inform 鈥減ractical guidance that sets clear expectations for how these bases should operate within mainstream schools to avoid poorly integrated parallel provision鈥�.

Guidance should be tailored for schools and trusts, councils and Ofsted.

‘Be explicit mainstream can’t meet every pupil’s needs’

Ministers must also be 鈥渆xplicit that mainstream schools, including inclusion bases, cannot meet every pupil鈥檚 needs, and plan sufficient specialist places accordingly鈥�.

Policymakers and councils should treat specialist provision as an 鈥渆ssential part of an inclusive local system to avoid inappropriate mainstream placements becoming the default when specialist capacity is scarce鈥�.

The report also warned that where integration and inclusion remain uneven, funding 鈥渘eeds to better match patterns of need across schools so that inclusive practice is sustainable, not goodwill-based鈥�.

NFER鈥檚 research, its second paper on the subject, found that in 2024-25, primary schools with the highest rate of pupils with EHCPs had around six times as many pupils with EHCPs as those in the lowest quartile.

The concentration of pupils with SEND 鈥渁ppears to be driven by a structural steering effect: pupils are pulled towards certain schools with reputations for and expertise in inclusion and pushed towards them when capacity in other schools is constrained鈥�.

NFER said this was reinforced by variation in school practices. Some were less willing to develop a reputation for inclusion, or actively discouraged admission of pupils with SEND 鈥渨hether due to capacity pressures or concerns about performance measures鈥�.

Magnet schools

The report found that inclusive schools became known locally as places that 鈥渨ill make it work鈥�, shaping parental choice, professional advice and council placement decisions.

But leaders 鈥渁lso described some schools actively managing their reputations to limit demand from pupils with SEND to enrol鈥�.

Recorded patterns of SEND concentration are shaped 鈥渘ot only by underlying levels of need, but by how need is identified, recorded and supported鈥�.

Variation in SEND identification and recording practices also limit the extent to which administrative data can reliably distinguish between underlying need and formal identification.

The report also warned that the issue of higher need clustering in particular mainstream schools created 鈥渃umulative staffing and resource pressures that are not reflected in current funding arrangements鈥�.

The NFER鈥檚 Matt Walker warned support for pupils with SEND was 鈥渃oncentrated in a minority of schools and placing unsustainable pressure on them鈥�.

鈥淚f we want a genuinely inclusive system, responsibility for SEND cannot rest with a few schools. It has to be something every school is expected 鈥� and supported 鈥� to do.

鈥淲ithout that shift, the government鈥檚 ambition for mainstream schools to better meet a wider range of needs will remain difficult to deliver.鈥�