Responding to a report from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission which found that support for children with special educational needs (SEND) who are not in school is inconsistent, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“Children with SEND should be supported to learn in a school setting appropriate to their needs wherever possible.

“Schools work tirelessly to make this happen, but too often they lack the funding or resources required to consistently identify needs early and offer timely help which can be sustained. They frequently struggle to access vital support from external services like health and social care, which themselves face severe budgetary constraints.

“Increasingly, as a result of those external capacity pressures, school staff are being asked to provide specialist health provision - in a growing number of instances, this can be for children with quite complex conditions who really need and deserve specialist health support.

“It is vital the government’s forthcoming SEND reforms address these issues, and doing so would reduce the likelihood of parents feeling they have no other option but to home educate their children.

“Where parents’ preference is for home education, and this is an appropriate option for their child, better oversight and coordination is needed between all services, as well as more resources.

“This should ensure children are receiving the education and support they deserve, in the most appropriate place, and that they are safe. The government’s planned register of children not in school should help and it’s important this comes into effect as soon as possible to ensure children are never lost outside the system.”