Pupils struggling after Covid are misdiagnosed as having special needs

2022-12-14

Pupils struggling with schooling after Covid lockdown are being mistaken as having special needs, Ofsted warns

Nearly 77,000 students last year were identified as having special needs
Ofsted warned that children may just need to ‘catch-up’ from Covid lockdowns
Increased demand means support is not always available for struggling children

Pupils who have fallen behind due to lockdown are being misdiagnosed with having special educational needs, the schools watchdog has warned.

Nearly 77,000 pupils last year were identified as having SEND (special education needs and/or disabilities), sparking fears diagnoses are being rushed and are falsely lowering expectations for students.

Almost 1.5million pupils are now identified as having SEND. Ofsted’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman said: ‘My concern is that identifying a child as needing catch-up help is different from saying the child has a long-term problem.’

Students who have fallen behind due to lockdown are being misdiagnosed as having special education needs and/or disabilities, Ofsted has warned

Children with SEND are entitled to additional support, including extra time and breaks during exams.

But the increased demand means speech and language therapy and mental health support are not always available for struggling children.

A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘We have put in place a range of support, including £5billion in education recovery… to help ease the pressure on children’s services.’

By Connor Stringer

The findings come as part of a damning report by Ofsted, which was described as ‘deeply worrying’ by school leaders.

The watchdog also found a high number of children are still skipping school following the pandemic, while teachers are leaving their posts for higher-paying jobs in Aldi and Amazon.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) labelled the findings as ‘deeply worrying’.

Julie McCulloch, director of policy, said: ‘The chief inspector highlights the major challenges faced by the education sector, many of which have become more acute as a result of the Government’s inadequate response to the growing recruitment and retention crisis in our schools and colleges.

‘As the report outlines, this is having an impact in all education settings, from early years through to further education.’

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