Without statements:
1,174,280

Total:
1,403,780

Without statements:
52,410

Total:
65,080

Without statements:
1,226,690

Total:
1,468,860
 

Without statements:
8,290

Total:
93,830 

Without statements:
40

Total:
4,780  

Without statements:
8,330

Total:
98,610

Without statements:
1,165,980

Total:
1,309,940

Without statements:
52,370

Total:
60,300

Without statements:
1,218,350

Total:
1,370,240

The compulsory school age range is 5-16 years. However, published data on pupils with statements does not allow for the removal of either pupils with statements in nursery classes (under the age of 5) within primary phase schools (either mainstream or special), or pupils with statements over the age of 16 in secondary phase schools (either mainstream or special). Data presented above includes these populations.

‘Private education’ is that which is provided in institutions, which are largely privately funded, receiving most of their income from tuition fees. There is private provision at all levels of education. Private schools are known as independent schools and they do not receive direct government funding, although some independent schools have charitable status and benefit from tax relief and they may also apply for some public support through, for example, the National Lottery funding scheme.
All independent/private schools must meet regulatory requirements (Sections 463-478 of the Education Act 1996), which include reaching satisfactory standards of premises, accommodation, instruction and staffing. They must be registered with the Department for Education and Skills (or national equivalent) and are subject to regular inspection from Her Majesty’s Inspectors to ensure their fitness to be registered.
While they are not required to follow the national curriculum, independent/private schools must offer a curriculum of sufficient range and depth to be appropriate for the age, aptitude, ability and special educational needs of the pupils placed there.
Non-maintained special schools (NMSS) are schools in England approved by the Secretary of State for Education as special schools that are not maintained by the state, but charge fees on a non-profit-making basis. Most non-maintained special schools are run by major charities or charitable trusts. It should be noted that most places in NMSS are purchased by local authorities for pupils for whom there is no available appropriate provision in a maintained school: parents rarely pay fees directly in these schools.
For the purposes of this analysis independent schools, city technology colleges, academies and non-maintained special schools are included in the ‘private sector’. Maintained primary schools, secondary schools, special schools (maintained only) and pupil referral units are included in the ‘public sector’. Segregated settings include special schools (maintained and non-maintained) and pupil referral units. Inclusive settings include primary and secondary schools, city technology colleges, academies and independent schools (including independent special schools as they are not separately identified from other independent schools in source data).

The Education Act 1996 (as amended by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act – SENDA, 2001) for England and Wales, and the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 for Northern Ireland, states that a child has special educational needs ‘if s/he has a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for her/him’. Such provision is required when a child:
- has significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of his/her age; or
- has a disability which either prevents of hinders him/her from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided in schools, within the area of the local authority concerned, for children of his/her age; or
- is under the age of five years and is, or would be if special educational provision were not made for him/her, likely to fall within either of the above paragraphs when over that age.
The Education Act 1996 (as amended by SENDA 2001) defines special educational provision as provision which, in the case of children over the age of two, adds to or differs from provision made generally for pupils of the same age in maintained schools. Children cannot be defined as having special educational needs solely because their mother tongue is not English or because they are gifted.
The revised Code of Practice (DfES, 2001) recommends a four-stage process of identification and assessment of special educational needs. At the first, the school is responsible for targets and action with regard to the pupil’s needs; at the second, external support services advise the school on appropriate targets and action for the pupil; at the third, a request is made for a statutory multi-professional assessment of the pupil’s needs; at the fourth, a statutory assessment of the pupil’s needs is made – this may result in the local education authority issuing a ‘statement of special educational needs’ (*) in relation to the pupil’s needs and becoming responsible for ensuring that the provision identified in the statement is available to the pupil.