London Councils: Inclusion in London’s Schools Research
What London Councils needed
Across London, the cohort of school pupils with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) had grown fast – up by 21% in the five years to January 2024. The number requiring Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) had grown even more quickly, up by more than 50% in the same time period. As this cohort has grown, the number of young people with SEND in school placements outside mainstream schools increased rapidly risking isolating young people with SEND from their peers and local communities, and stretching local authority budgets. The growth in SEND need had also driven longer waiting lists across the capital, including for assessment and support, and widespread concern across London’s schools, local authorities, and policy makers.
London Councils therefore commissioned Mime to carry out research to:
- Outline a definition of inclusion
- Highlight the benefits of inclusion
- Better understand the picture of inclusion across London
- Make recommendations for stakeholders across the system to improve inclusion in the capital
What we did
We took a mixed-methods approach, analysing quantitative data on over a million young Londoners, including 200,000 with SEND, as well as collecting deep qualitative from those with lived experience of the system. As well as school, local authority and government stakeholders, it was essential to ensure the voices of young people with SEND and their families were amplified in our research, so we ran several focus groups and a survey, as well as carrying out school visits. We explored data from the National Pupil Database (NPD) to understand the patterns of school exclusions and absence, as well as the prevalence of pupils with SEND being taken off school rolls.
We concluded our research by making recommendations to the DfE, Ofsted, local authorities, MATs and schools around workforce development, funding, the accountability system, and partnership working.
The impact of our work
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The research was met with a really positive media and political response. In the media, articles in the BBC and the London Standard focussed on our funding and workforce recommendations. On the political front, we joined the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for London’s discussion in parliament on this work, where there was clear political buy-in for improving inclusion across the capital (you can read the minutes of the APPG meeting here). Ofsted have also since announced new proposals for consultation – committing to ‘inclusion’ as a criterion on both the new report cards in the new inspection framework. Finally, London Councils were able to use this research to inform their submission to the Education Select Committee’s inquiry on the SEND system.
