Some mainstream schools are more focused on accountability measures than meeting the individual needs of students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), according to a new Ofsted report.
The report also warned that school leaders, and students with SEND, believe that a lack of appropriate qualifications is a barrier to preparing such students for employment.
The findings come in a (CQC), which warned that longstanding weaknesses across the SEND system are having a negative impact on young people’s transition to adulthood.
Inspectors found that specialist providers are able to meet the individual needs of children and young people by providing “a tailored curriculum focused on their aspirations, strengths and needs”.
However, they warned that mainstream schools are “far less likely to offer similar opportunities”.
This is often due to a curriculum that is unable to cater for a wide variety of skills and interests, the report said.
It said: “Some mainstream school leaders focused more on meeting school accountability measures when developing their curriculum offer for children and young people with SEND. For example, they looked at providing a broad curriculum, including the EBacc subjects, with a limited number of vocational qualifications available.”
Ofsted and the CQC said these factors combined result in less flexibility for children and young people with SEND.
“Leaders told us that the limited range of appropriate qualifications available created barriers to preparing them for employment,” the report added.
Inspectors also found that students in special schools benefit from more guidance and services focused on helping them to transition to adulthood.
It said that, in some cases, special schools use transition workers who are qualified to provide careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG).
The report said that children and young people with SEND in mainstream schools “do not typically benefit from the same services to aid transition, even when they require considerable support”.
Leaders in mainstream schools said they often battle to access services and assessments, and to secure funding to support children and young people with SEND both with and without education, health and care plans (EHCPs).
Ofsted and the CQC recommended that schools adapt their approaches so that children and young people with SEND “receive high-quality individualised CEIAG to support their transitions, aspirations and next steps in education, employment or training”.
The report also called on the Department for Education to include preparation for adulthood in a national EHCP template so that it is considered at all stages.
The report comes as ministers are being urged to ensure they harness the expertise within special schools as part of an inclusion drive in mainstream schools.
Commenting on the new report, Rob Williams, senior policy adviser at the school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “School leaders, including those in residential special schools, have for years been calling out weaknesses in the system when it comes to helping young people with special educational needs transition to adulthood.
“This report highlights how an unacceptable postcode lottery and a lack of capacity in health and social care services to offer early help mean parents increasingly see securing an EHCP as crucial to at least give their child a chance of receiving the right support.”
Ofsted’s chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said: “It’s vital that children and young people with SEND receive the right support to help them reach their full potential as they prepare for adulthood. So I am very concerned that longstanding challenges across the SEND system are preventing local areas from improving support for some of our most vulnerable young people.
“It is particularly worrying that children waiting for an EHCP are not receiving the level of support they need.”
Ofsted and CQC inspectors visited six local areas to compile the report: Wolverhampton, Wandsworth, Thurrock, Newcastle, Bath and North East Somerset, and Wigan. The areas were chosen based on several factors, including data, intelligence and contextual variety.
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