Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a levels of Educational Psychologists on EHCP (a) assessment and (b) review waiting times.

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

Educational psychologists play a critical role in the support available to children and young people, providing statutory input into education, health and care assessments and advising the school workforce on how to support children and young people with SEND. However, the department knows that current workforce shortages are a barrier to this.

As the employers of educational psychology services, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that their services are adequately staffed. However, we are 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 September 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, including contributing to statutory assessments.

To support retention, 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.