Nearly all schools facing SEND funding blackhole, survey finds

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) survey found that 97 per cent of school leaders are warning that current levels of SEND funding is insufficient.

A similar proportion (95 per cent) says that top up funding for pupils with education, health and care plans (EHCP) is too low.

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More than six out of 10 school leaders said that providing required support for pupils with SEND “is causing major financial pressure for their school”.

Almost four in five (79 per cent) are having to raid their own budgets to fund additional SEND services, the survey adds.

The government’s “long awaited” review of SEND “should not be delayed any further”, said the NAHT.

It is calling for “a needs-led” approach to SEND funding rather than “the current resource-led approach that has failed to deliver adequate provision to meet the needs of significant numbers of pupils”.

NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman said: “The crisis in funding for pupils with special educational needs is clear for all to see and is putting significant pressure on school budgets.”

The survey also found that 26 per cent of school leaders are predicting a budget deficit this year based on current funding levels.

The biggest school budgetary pressures are required support for SEND pupils, costs associated with Covid safety and increasing employment costs.

Meanwhile, school leaders are predicting there will be a need to make more cuts to services next year. While 31 per cent are making cuts to balance their budget in 2021/22, this rises to 35 per cent anticipating cuts the following year.

This includes having to reduce the hours or numbers of teaching assistants (TAs), reducing or stopping SEND support for some pupils and restricting the number of school trips, say headteachers.

Staffordshire primary school headteacher Helen Spearing said: “We have to restrict the number of school trips because we can’t afford to subsidise them if parents can’t afford to contribute."

She added: “We have had to make the difficult decision to go through a process to change TA salaries to term time only. More and more children have complex needs which require additional support but we don’t have the finances to provide extra staff. We then have to balance the needs of one child against the needs of a class of children.”

Devon primary school headteacher Lorna Legg added: “Special Needs provision is an area where the budget has been consistently overspent, due to increasing need and lower funding than many counties, with schools being 'asked' to give more of our budget share towards filling this gap every year.”

A Department for Education spokesman said that “this government is providing the biggest uplift to school funding in a decade”.

“Next year, funding is increasing by 3.2 per cent overall - and by 9.6 per cent in 2022/23 for high needs. The National Funding Formula continues to distribute this fairly, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts,” he added.