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SEND in Cheshire East

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Cheshire East — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 181 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Cheshire East's SEND Local Offer
Services, support, education, health and social care for 0–25s with SEND
Visit Local Offer →
Ofsted rating: Cheshire East's children's services are currently rated Inadequate. This means Ofsted has concerns about some services for children. It does not directly reflect SEND support, but SEND provision is often scrutinised in separate Area SEND inspections.

EHCP Timeliness

DfE 2024 data (June 2025 release)
Issued within 20 weeks47.9%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 438 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
900
Refused (no assessment)
193
Refusal rate21.4%
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 Cheshire East.
Source: DfE EES ↗

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks45.9%
National: 44.4%
Based on 3,834 review meetings held in 2024. 355 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
4,871
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
6.1% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
3,557
SEN Support (no EHCP)
12.8% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
7,466
Total pupils
58,129

SEN Provision in Cheshire East

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
13
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
2
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
19
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Cheshire East

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Cheshire East
Speech Language & Communication— 36.3% of EHCPs
Speech Language & Communication36.3%
Social Emotional & Mental Health35.1%
Autism15.2%
Other4.9%
Specific Learning Difficulties3.2%
Moderate Learning Difficulties2.4%
Physical Disability1.7%
Multi-Sensory Impairment1%
Severe Learning Difficulties0.2%
Hearing Impairment0.2%
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 Cheshire East

34 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Leighton Academy
SEN Unit· Good
The Macclesfield Academy
Resourced· Requires Improvement
Middlewich Primary School
Resourced· Good
Shavington Primary School
Resourced· Good
TILT Education
Special
Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School
Resourced· Good
Puss Bank School and Nursery
Resourced· Good
Handforth Grange Primary School
Resourced· Outstanding
Middlewich High School
Resourced· Good
Cheshire Hall School
Special
Excalibur Primary School
Resourced· Good
David Lewis School
Special· Good
Aurora Summerfields School
Special
Hungerford Primary Academy
Resourced
Shavington Academy
Resourced· Good
Springfield School
Special· Good
Park Lane School
Special· Good
Wilmslow High School
Resourced· Good
Bexton Primary School
Resourced· Good
High Peak School
Special
Lavender Field School
Special
Monks Coppenhall Academy
Resourced· Good
Aidenswood School
Special
Pownall Hall School
Resourced
Adelaide Heath Academy
Resourced· Good
Eden School
Special
Lindow Community Primary School
Resourced· Good
Compass Community Cledford Park
Special
Esland Daven School
Special
Opal Education
Special
Showing 30 of 34. Use the SEN Finder to filter and search all of them.

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: Cheshire East Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.