Children in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber were found to lack SEND support. Picture: Adobe Stock/ dglimages

The report, published by Child of the North and former Children’s Commissioner for England Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives, has highlighted a SEND support crisis in England, with a "postcode lottery" leading to a lack of support in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber.

The average wait for an ADHD assessment for young people aged 19 to 25 was almost four years in one local authority in Yorkshire and the Humber. Additionally, the total percentage of EHCPs produced within 20 weeks in the North East of England in 2022 ranged from 98% to 13%.

• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities: Special Report

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The report also emphasises the attainment gap between children with SEND and those without. Just 30% of young people with SEND achieved a Grade 4 or higher in English and maths in 2022/23, compared with 72% without SEND.

EHCPs were found to reduce the attainment gap between children with SEND and those without SEND to two years, compared to children with out a plan who are found to be an average of 3.5 years behind their peers.

Children with SEND are also three times more likely to be suspended from school or not in employment, education or training at 16 and 17, and twice as likely to be persistently absent.

Anne Longfield, executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said: “The SEND system is broken. Tackling the delays, the poor early identification, and the postcode lottery they have inherited should be a priority for new ministers. This report puts forward a new evidence-based plan to identify SEND earlier and cut assessment times.

“I welcome the new Secretary of State’s decision to give responsibility for improving SEND provision to the Schools Minister, and I hope this is the beginning of a fresh start for reforming a broken system. We need to level the playing field of support nationally, prioritising those areas of the country which are failing to meet the 20-week goal, and being much more creative about how to achieve it.”

This comes as a recent study showed that attainment for children with SEND "has not improved over the last decade", despite an increase in investment of £4bn.

The report recommends connecting systems to ensure earlier identification of SEND, extending SEND training for professionals and families, and rolling out tools assessing non-academic skills beyond the early years, such as the electronic development and support tool, to improve provision for SEND children.

By Amrit Virdi