Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of vacancies for educational psychologists.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

The department does not hold any specific data regarding the number of vacancies for educational psychologists.

As the employers of educational psychology services, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that their services are adequately staffed. The department is, however, taking measures to support local authorities by investing in building the pipeline.

The department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024. This is in addition to the £10 million currently being invested in the training of over 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023. As these trainees complete their studies, they will join the workforce to support local authority educational psychology services.

To support local authority services to recruit and retain their educational psychology workforce, following graduation, trainees who have had their training funded by the department are required to remain in local authority employment for a minimum period. For trainees beginning their course in September 2024, this requirement has increased to three years.