Headlines from the Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) Infographic: August 2025

To support the below SEND infographic the following narrative provides further information statistics and insights.

Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) 

Families are receiving their education, health and care plans far more quickly than a year ago (SEND Strategy Priority 2). Northumberland's performance of 77% within the 20 week time scale is significantly better than the national average of 46%. This is within the context of an increasing number of education, health and care plans, which is now more than 4000.

Of the 591 Consideration of Statutory Assessment (COSA) applications received between January 2025 – August 2025, 367 were approved at the first stage, 67 went to mediation, of which 25 were approved, giving a total approved of 392. (Priority 1). 

Education Outcomes 

Education outcomes for SEND learners in Northumberland have been improving (Priority 3). Results in summer 2024 were better than the previous year in 7 out of 8 key national measures from reception age to GCSE, the exception being Reading, Writing and Maths at Key Stage 2 for SEN Support learners. When comparing the published data for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years, absence rates have increased for both EHCP and SEN Support learners. For EHCP learners, they are above the national average. Rates of permanent exclusions and suspensions have also increased and were above the national average for both groups of learners in 2023/24. These are areas of concern and strategies are in place to address them.

Encouragingly, an increasing proportion of EHCP learners are being educated in mainstream settings and the gap between Northumberland and the national average is gradually closing. When young people with an EHCP in Northumberland leave school, their destinations are far more likely to be known than is the case nationally, although securing them suitable and sustainable employment opportunities remains a challenge. Encouragingly, there are positive outcomes from the Supported Internships programme (Priority 4). 

Lived Experience of Children’s Social Care Services 

Data on the effectiveness of social care services indicate that the children and young people involved with them experience broadly similar levels of satisfaction to their peers who do not have SEND (Priority 1). 

Waiting times for Health Services 

Waiting times for children and young people requiring health services generally meet or exceed national targets (health check for young children aged 2-2.5, waiting times for primary mental health, speech and language therapy (paediatrics) and occupational therapy (paediatrics). Where average waiting times have increased, i.e. for the neurodevelopmental pathway and physiotherapy, that information is in the dashboard analysis reported to the SEND Partnership board and recovery plans are in place. (Priority 2). 

Experience of Being a Young Adult with SEND 

For young adults with disabilities known to Adults Social Care, almost all are living in settled accommodation. The proportion who are in paid or voluntary employment appear to be low, but there is no national benchmark to indicate how Northumberland compares. Most (87%) of clients who will require continuing support from Adults Social Care have a completed adults social care assessment before their 18th birthday, an improvement from 61% since the reporting of that data began 5 years ago (Priority 4). 

Learning from Complaints 

Data on complaints is used to inform learning. The complaints received between October 2023 and December 2024 tended to relate to delay in service (mostly around EHCP considerations), standard of communications, failure to follow procedure and disagreement with decision (Priority 1). 

Experience of Receiving SEND Education Support Services 

Evaluations from families experiencing the Low and High Incidence Needs Teams show very positive feedback with regards to the support they receive and the communication they are given (Priority 1). 

Infographic

To view the above infographic as a PDF, click here.