Research by the Consortium for Research in Deaf Education (Cride) found that while the number of deaf children in England has risen 31 per cent since 2011 to 45,631 the number of full-time equivalent specialist teachers employed as of January 2017 had fallen by 148 to 914 in the same period.
The decline means that the average specialist teacher supported 61 children in 2017 compared with 49 in 2015, but in some local authorities caseloads were found to be significantly higher. In 15 per cent of local authorities there was just one specialist teacher per 100 deaf students and in one council the average caseload was 253 children.
The consortium's research also found that the school census significantly under-reports the number of deaf children in England, suggesting there are 26,140 deaf children compared with 45,631 identified by Cride in the study.
In addition Cride found that 57 per cent of existing specialist teachers are due to retire within the next 15 years.
The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS), which supported the survey, said the findings showed a service in "complete disarray".
"The evidence couldn't be clearer," said Susan Daniels, chief executive of the NDCS.
"From every angle and at every turn, a whole generation of deaf children will have their futures decimated if the government doesn't act before it's too late.
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