A research brief by The Sutton Trust looks at SEND and socio-economic disadvantage.  At present, our SEND system creates a lottery in provision. Approaches to identification, practice, and available support vary greatly by setting and local area.

In this report, they look at these differences and disparities in relation to socio-economic background and SEND, before exploring how socio-economic background influences experiences and outcomes for families with children with SEND.

The first section of this report examines the current context, how SEND and disadvantage are linked, and how this has changed over time.

The second section uses the results of a survey of over 4,000 parents to begin to understand why children who are from a lower socio-economic

background and have SEND have some of the poorest education outcomes of all pupil groups.

Finally, the brief looks to the future to discuss how parents view the role of schools in supporting children with SEND.

Key facts:

Children eligible for FSM are over-represented within the SEND cohort. Nationally, 25.7% of children are eligible for FSM. However, this figure is 39.3% for those categorised as receiving SEND support and 43.8% for those in receipt of an EHCP.   Children eligible for FSM are over- represented in every category of SEND and mostly so in ‘Moderate Learning Difficulties’, ‘Severe Learning Difficulties’ and ‘Social, Emotional and Mental Health’.  Within the SEND cohort, children eligible for FSM have lower outcomes at Key Stage 4. In 2023/2024, only 7.5% of children eligible for FSM and who had an EHCP secured 4+ in English and Maths compared to 17.3% of those with an EHCP but not eligible for FSM.

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