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SEND in Bolton

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Bolton — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 147 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Bolton's SEND Local Offer
Services, support, education, health and social care for 0–25s with SEND
Visit Local Offer →

EHCP Timeliness

DfE 2024 data (June 2025 release)
Issued within 20 weeks72.3%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 563 new EHCPs issued in 2024.
Councils must issue new EHCPs within 20 weeks of the request. Exceptions exist but many delays don't qualify.

EHCP Assessment Requests

DfE 2024 data (June 2025 release)
Requests received
732
Refused (no assessment)
148
Refusal rate20.2%
National: 25.5%
Lower is better. Refused requests can be appealed to the SEND tribunal — and ~98% of cases heard find in the parent's favour.

SEND Tribunal

Appeals against LA decisions
Tribunal data not yet imported for Bolton.
Source: HMCTS SENDIST stats ↗

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks18.8%
National: 44.4%
Based on 2,646 review meetings held in 2024. 342 expected reviews were not held.
After an annual review meeting, LAs must notify parents of the decision (amend, maintain or cease) within 4 weeks. This data was published for the first time in June 2025.

SEN Population

Pupils across all schools in this LA
Live EHCPs maintained (2024/25)
Total EHCPs in force across the LA
3,604
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
7.4% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
4,174
SEN Support (no EHCP)
26.5% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
14,975
Total pupils
56,573

SEN Provision in Bolton

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
7
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
7
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
7
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Bolton

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Bolton
Autism— 34.6% of EHCPs
Autism34.6%
Speech Language & Communication24.3%
Social Emotional & Mental Health22.5%
Moderate Learning Difficulties8.4%
Physical Disability3%
Severe Learning Difficulties2.3%
Profound & Multiple LD2%
Specific Learning Difficulties1.2%
Visual Impairment1%
Hearing Impairment0.7%
The primary need is the main reason the EHCP was issued. Many children have co-occurring needs. ASD is the most common primary need nationally.

Schools with SEN provision in Bolton

20 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Rumworth School
Special
Breightmet School
Special
Green Fold School
Special
Bolton St Catherine's Academy
SEN UnitResourced
Grosvenor Nursery School and Day Care Centre
SEN Unit· Outstanding
EdStart Schools Bolton
Special
All Saints CofE Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Birtenshaw School Bolton
Special· Good
Thomasson Memorial School
Special· Good
Claypool Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Blackrod Anglican/Methodist Primary School
Resourced· Good
Rivington and Blackrod High School
Resourced· Good
St Teresa's RC Primary School a Voluntary Academy
Resourced· Good
Moorgate Primary School
Resourced· Outstanding
Sharples Primary School
Resourced· Good
Washacre Primary Academy
SEN Unit· Good
Lever Edge Primary Academy
Resourced· Good
Raise Education and Wellbeing School
Special
Queensbridge Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Lever Park School
SEN Unit· Good

Helpful resources

EHCP Guide →
What an EHCP is, how to apply, appeal process
Annual Review Tracker →
Timeline and stages of EHCP annual reviews
Choosing a SEN School →
Practical guide for SEN parents
Our SEN Methodology →
How we calculate SEN Experience Indicator
DATA SOURCES
School-level SEN data: DfE Education Health and Care plans release + GIAS. LA-level stats: DfE EES + HMCTS SENDIST. Local Offer: Bolton Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.