Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of children with special educational needs or disabilities who have not yet returned to mainstream school places; and what steps his Department is taking to support those children.

The department does not hold data on the attendance levels of all pupils with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) in mainstream settings. The department is, however, collecting data on the attendance of pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans and this will be published in due course.

The government has clearly set out its position that all pupils, including those with SEND, should be returning to schools from the start of the autumn term. Our guidance is clear that schools should work closely with parents and carers to agree the best approach to support children and young people with SEND to return to school successfully:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

Where children are unable to attend school because they are following Public Health England guidance to self-isolate, or because they are among the very small proportion of children who are ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ and have been advised by their own medical team to continue shielding, schools should provide immediate remote education provision so they can continue their learning and development.