Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the ratio of special educational need and disability teaching staff to pupils.

All teachers are teachers of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The department is committed to ensuring that all pupils can reach their potential and receive excellent support from their teachers.

In 2022/23, there were 20.7 pupils for every one nursery and primary school teacher, 16.8 pupils for every one secondary teacher, and 6.4 pupils for every one special school and pupil referral unit teacher.

The department’s ambition is for all children and young people, no matter their Special Educational Need (SEN), to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. We want them to achieve well in their early years, at school and in further education, to find employment, to lead happy and fulfilled lives, and to experience choice and control.

Through the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the department is creating a new single National SEND and AP system for how needs are identified and met across education, health and care. This new single national system will set standards on what support should be made available universally in mainstream settings, as well as guidance on when an Education, Health and Care plan is required, and when specialist provision, including AP, is most appropriate for meeting a child or young person’s needs. This will mean that the right support is provided in the right place, at the right time, for children and young people with SEND.