Research and consulting firm Ipsos have been apppointed to carry out an independent review of NI’s special educational needs (SEN) provision. The review has begun and will be carried out over the next six months under the oversight of a steering group from the Department of Education (DE).
The review’s aim is to “understand whether SEN provision and processes are fit for purpose in terms of progress made by children, impact on children’s outcomes and whether services can be delivered more effectively and efficiently”.
It’s just one of the recommendations from an Impact Review of SEN published in February 2021 which was highly critical of the Education Authority (EA), stating “there is little evidence that the Education Authority is operating effectively”. It highlighted weaknesses in how both the EA and the DA are governed and stated that the EA “do not know how many children in schools require SEN support or why the numbers are higher than in other jurisdictions”.
It pointed out “unacceptable delays” in SEN assessments, but acknowledged that educational achievements of children with SEN have improved. The whole report and its recommendations can be read on the NI Assembly website.
The Independent Review into SEN will include:
- An independent external evaluation of the work progressed so far under EA’s SEN and Disability (SEND) Strategic Development Programme (SDP);
- A review of the impact of classroom assistance on children’s outcomes;
- An external benchmarking exercise of SEN services with other jurisdictions;
- Research into the higher proportion of children with SEN in Northern Ireland compared to England; and
- An external review of funding of SEN services including the delegation of budgets.
It will also:
- Identify and describe best international practice on SEN approaches, including evidenced and peer reviewed research on good practice and effective measures and approaches. Part of the research must reference societies that have successful approaches to SEN within a post-conflict context;
- Provide an assessment of the effectiveness of SEN in NI in contrast with other models and to identify key gaps in provision/ areas for considered development; and
- Develop and evaluate options and make specific recommendations to improve SEN provision across NI;
The DE stated that the review team will be engaging with schools, parent/carers, pupils, special educational needs advocacy groups as well as those working in DE and EA. The review team can be contacted by emailing desenreviewteam@education-ni.gov.uk and review updates are to be published on the DE website: education-ni.gov.uk
