SEND funding: the key issues

Colleges do tremendous work with students who have special educational needs (SEND). They provide them with the best opportunities and skills to progress and achieve their potential in adult life. Unfortunately, the SEND system around them does not help them with this. Lack of funding, bureaucratic local authorities and overly complex procedures mean colleges’ task of providing the best opportunities for SEND students is made even more difficult. This blog discusses just some of the SEND challenges colleges are facing at the moment. 

There is a consensus that SEND funding for colleges is completely inadequate.[1] The funding allocation for SEND students is made up of Element 1, 2 and 3. Element 1 is the funding that colleges receive for each student at the college. Element 2 is additional funding for high needs students and Element 3 is top-up funding for students with complex needs whose funding requirements are not met by Element 1 and 2. In terms of SEND students Element 2 is where colleges and students are being let down. Colleges need to spend £6000 per student to qualify for Element 2 funding.  The £6000 threshold puts added pressure on colleges to make sure spending levels reach the required cliff edge. Failure to meet the £6000 threshold means colleges are unable to claim back the additional expenditure. This combined with a significant increase of students who require an EHCP means there is simply not enough money going to colleges with SEND students. 

Department for Education data suggests the number of young people with an EHCP has risen 16% between 2007 and 2019.[2] At first glance, the increase in recognised students with an EHCP should mean that these students are each getting the additional support they need. However, with this increase comes an additional task for teachers and SENCos, who need to be able to manage this increase and obtain the extra EHCPs and funding from their local authority. 

Again there is a consensus that the process of working with Local Authorities (LAs) to obtain funding and information about students’ needs is overly time-consuming and bureaucratic.[3] There are some cases of Local Authorities being more efficient, but in general there is a significant difficulty of working with LAs who are school-focussed and therefore do not have strong knowledge of SEND in a post-16 context.[4]  Some students are arriving at college without an EHCP, and it takes a considerable amount of time for the SEND transition team to collate the information and provide the correct support.[5] 

As post-16 providers, colleges understand the importance of the transition from school to further education. This transition can be particularly challenging for SEND students due to the greater independence expected in the college environment.[6] A better transition process is needed, and this involves a closer link between schools and FE at an earlier stage. This in turn will help colleges with the EHCP process. Ultimately, unnecessary time spent by colleges on obtaining updated EHCP plans could be better spent on providing for their students.

A lot of these issues unfortunately predate Covid and the pandemic has created an even more complex environment for providing for SEND students. An increase in the level of SEND funding would be a minimum requirement for colleges to be able to meet students’ needs to the best of their ability going forward, and SFCA will include SEND funding in this year’s spending review submission. 

For more information on the key SEND issues in the sector, please see 2019’s SFCA SEND Consultation Response. The issues discussed there are unfortunately no closer to being solved, and we will be making many of the points in this blog in response to this year’s High Needs Funding Formula consultation, which closes next month. If you work in or attend a sixth form and are affected by these issues, please join us in doing so.