Special Educational Needs: support in England
An overview of the current system of support for children and young people with special educational needs, and pressure on the system. Updated with new 2024-25 SEND incidence and EHC plan data

A Westminster Hall debate has been scheduled for Wednesday 8 March on Racial discrimination in schools. The debate will be opened by Janet Daby MP.
Racial discrimination in schools (227 KB , PDF)
This debate pack provides information on the responsibilities of school leaders in England in tackling racism, support for education providers in addressing issues of racial discrimination, and background on specific recent incidents linked to schools in Surrey and Kent.
All state-funded schools in England must:
In February 2023, a Black pupil was attacked outside a secondary school in Ashford, Surrey. Janet Daby and 30 other Members wrote to Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, about the attack, calling for action and support for the victims.
Surrey Police issued an update about the case on 9 February 2023, confirming a number of arrests:
Four people were arrested on suspicion of attempted racially aggravated grievous bodily harm (GBH), including a 39-year-old woman, a 16-year-old girl, and two 11-year-old girls. The 39-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man were also arrested on suspicion of child neglect and intentionally encouraging and assisting the commission of an indictable only offence. The 16-year-old girl was also arrested on suspicion of malicious communications. A 15 year old girl remains outstanding. More than 50 officers and staff have been involved with both the investigation and ongoing engagement with the local community who are understandably extremely concerned about the attack.
Later in February 2023, reports and video footage began to circulate on social media about another racially motivated assault in a Kent secondary school. Responding to a parliamentary question from Ms Daby about the incidents, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:
The recent violent incident in the vicinity of Thomas Knyvett and the incident in Medway were absolutely abhorrent. Children’s safety and wellbeing is the Department’s highest priority, and schools and colleges have a duty to safeguard. Since the incident, the Department has been in regular contact with the academy trust and local authorities. A police investigation is ongoing in one of those cases, and the academy trust is working with the relevant authorities to undertake a thorough review into what happened.
A June 2020 report by the Runnymede Trust looked at race and racism in secondary schools. This identified issues with:
An October 2020 report from the YMCA (link to PDF) looked at young Black people’s experiences of institutional racism in the UK. Its estimates, based on focus group and survey research, included:
Racial discrimination in schools (227 KB , PDF)
An overview of the current system of support for children and young people with special educational needs, and pressure on the system. Updated with new 2024-25 SEND incidence and EHC plan data
A debate on the attainment and engagement of boys in education is scheduled to take place in the House of Commons Chamber on Thursday 10 July 2025. The subject for the debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee, and the debate will be led by Sam Rushworth MP.
This paper provides statistics on household food insecurity, food bank usage and free school meals in the UK, and tracks the impact of rising living costs.