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

Information on the Pupil Premium, Free School Meals, and other initiatives to raise educational attainment for disadvantaged children.
Support for disadvantaged children in education in England (664 KB , PDF)
A variety of measures are in place that aim to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged children. This note draws together information on those measures, with particular information on those that have recently been introduced, as well as relevant reports and debates. As a definition of ‘disadvantage’, it uses eligibility for the Pupil Premium as a guide: children who have been eligible for free school meals during the past six years, children who are in care, and children who were previously in care but left in particular circumstances such as adoption.
The note includes information on:
• The Pupil Premium
• Free School Meals
• Education of children looked after by local authorities
• Other recent initiatives and reports
General information on Government policies aimed at raising the achievement of disadvantaged children is available on the gov.uk website.
Several of the measures included in this note are linked to the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy 2014-17, launched in June 2014. A Library note on the Child Poverty Act 2010, SN/SP/5585, provides further background.
The Library also has standard notes on School Funding: Pupil Premium, SN/SP/6700, and note School meals and nutritional standards, SN/SP/4195, which provide more detail on these areas.
Support for disadvantaged children in education in England (664 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.