The majority of schools are not receiving enough funding to meet the needs of their most vulnerable pupils, a new survey has warned.
A survey by the National Association of Head Teachers found only 2% of respondents receive enough top up funding to meet the requirements of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
More than nine out of ten respondents also said it was harder to resource the support required to meet the needs of pupils with SEND compared to two years ago.
Council leaders are calling for an urgent review of funding to meet unprecedented rise in demand. Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said: ‘The findings of this report reinforce the desperate need for the Government to provide significant, ongoing and sustainable funding to help councils manage the rising demand in support from pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
’We have previously warned that unless councils are given the funding to meet this need, they may not be able to meet their statutory duties and children with high needs or disabilities could miss out on a mainstream education.’
Ian Noon, head of policy and research at the National Deaf Children’s Society commented: 'Today’s report makes for incredibly grim reading. The system for supporting some of the most vulnerable children in Britain is creaking at the seams and close to collapse.
'For the deaf children we support, their futures are being put at risk because their education support from Teachers of the Deaf is being completely cut back.'
