School admissions should consider the need to accommodate pupils with education, health and care plans over and above the impact it would have on the running of the school, even in cases where this would mean the school exceeds its planned admission numbers, a watchdog has said.
“Significant” numbers of schools are exceeding their planned admission numbers [PAN] to ensure that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or health needs get the most appropriate place, according to Office of the Schools Adjudicator’s annual report.
Chief adjudicator Shan Scott said that, “while over-PAN admissions to accommodate children with an EHCP [education, health and care plan] are clearly not ideal”, those placements mean that pupils are achieving school places “most appropriate to their needs”.
She added that “consequential concerns” regarding the impact on the “management of a school....should not be the paramount concern”.
Heads’ leaders have said the system should not be putting pressure on admissions bodies to choose between finding the right place for a pupil and not forcing a school to exceed their pupil capacity.
The watchdog’s report highlights longstanding problems ensuring that pupils with SEND have their EHCPs signed off in time to meet admissions deadlines, which puts pressure on families and schools to plan transfers and integration.
Heads’ unions say the report shows the “growing mismatch” between the increasing numbers of pupils with special educational needs and the resources available to ensure they get the support they deserve.
They add that more funding and training are needed for mainstream schools struggling to meet the needs of pupils with SEND, as well as extra funding to build more special schools.
Finding the right schools for pupils with SEND
In the report, Ms Scott admits that the potential consequences for schools where EHCPs are finalised at a late stage “are clearly of significance” in the minds of many local authority admissions teams.
“So while many have reported on their success in avoiding schools needing to admit over PAN as a result of good working practices between their teams, another significant group have again called for there to be changes in the statutory deadlines so that EHCPs would have to be completed earlier,” she says.
“I cannot but reflect, first, that while over-PAN admissions to accommodate children with an EHCP are clearly not ideal, they nevertheless result in these children achieving a place at a school most appropriate to their needs.
“As such, they serve the interests of this group of children (which is what I asked local authorities to report on) and so consequential concerns, real as these may be, in terms of the management of schools, should not be the paramount issue.”
Rob Williams, senior policy adviser at the NAHT school leaders’ union, said that while all pupils should be placed at a school that best caters for their needs, it is “far from ideal for schools to be operating at above their recommended capacity”.
“While a particular school may, in theory, be the most appropriate for a child, there will come a point at which the education and support on offer to not just that pupil but also their peers is compromised if there is too much pressure on space, resources and staff time,” he said.
“There is a growing mismatch between the increasing numbers of children with special educational needs and the resources available to ensure they get the support and education they deserve.
“Despite recent capital funding announcements, the government has failed to invest enough in increasing capacity in special schools and in supporting children with SEND in mainstream schools.”
Mr Williams said local authorities need to be given the power and funding to ensure that there are sufficient school places in their area, including for children with SEND and vulnerable pupils.
Margaret Mulholland, SEND and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said admissions bodies should not be put in a position where they have to choose between not surpassing the PAN and accommodating children with an EHCP.
“The solution is to increase the resources and training available to mainstream schools that are struggling with a lack of space and skills to meet the needs of pupils with SEND,” she said.
She added that the report underlines the urgent need for the EHCP process to be streamlined as outlined in the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, announced by the government in March. But she said that this would require more than the 33 new special schools mentioned in the plan to ease the pressures.
Simon Knight, joint headteacher of Frank Wise School, a special school in Oxfordshire, said that when admitting above PAN, careful consideration needs to be given to the consequences for pupils already at the school, such as the suitability of the environment if it becomes overcrowded; the implications from a sensory point of view; or the impact on the ability of the school to meet the requirements of the children already on roll, as specified in Section F of their EHCPs.
“We need to think carefully about the suitability of spaces used for educational purposes when schools are compelled to admit more pupils than they are designated for. There are plenty of stories in the public domain of schools converting cupboards, etc, for teaching purposes because there are not alternative spaces left,” he said.
“While I understand why the view of the OSA [Office of the Schools Adjudicator] is that the concerns of schools are not paramount, and I also understand why we have limited influence under law, unless we have a national strategy to address the capacity issues in special schools, compelled admission becomes a compromise for everyone concerned and, in some cases, risks being an unacceptable compromise,” he said.
The Department for Education said it is optimal for EHCPs to be completed well in advance of the main admissions round, but it recognises that some late finalisation is unavoidable and the requirement to admit over PAN is often in the child’s interests in these cases.
