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SEND in Cheshire West and Chester

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

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Cheshire West and Chester's SEND Local Offer
Services, support, education, health and social care for 0–25s with SEND
Visit Local Offer →
Ofsted rating: Cheshire West and Chester's children's services are currently rated Requires improvement. 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 weeks15.8%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 487 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
1,066
Refused (no assessment)
421
Refusal rate39.5%
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 West and Chester.
Source: DfE EES ↗

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks19.7%
National: 44.4%
Based on 2,628 review meetings held in 2024. 564 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
3,808
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
6.7% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
3,582
SEN Support (no EHCP)
20.9% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
11,198
Total pupils
53,508

SEN Provision in Cheshire West and Chester

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
15
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
0
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
14
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Cheshire West and Chester

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Cheshire West and Chester
Social Emotional & Mental Health— 33.7% of EHCPs
Social Emotional & Mental Health33.7%
Speech Language & Communication22.4%
Autism19.6%
Moderate Learning Difficulties18.3%
Physical Disability1.5%
Specific Learning Difficulties1%
Severe Learning Difficulties0.5%
Hearing Impairment0.5%
Visual Impairment0.5%
Multi-Sensory Impairment0.5%
Profound & Multiple LD0.2%
Other0.2%
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 West and Chester

29 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Adventure Wellbeing School
Special
St Nicholas Catholic High School
Resourced· Good
Elmy Hall School
Special
iMap Centre
Special
Hinderton School
Special
Grange Community Nursery and Primary School
Resourced· Good
Oak Cottage
Special
Rosebank School
Special· Good
Darnhall Primary School
Resourced· Good
Archers Brook SEMH Residential School
Special· Good
Abbey School for Exceptional Children
Special
Willow Wood Community Nursery and Primary School
Resourced· Good
Maple Grove School
Special
Dee Point Primary School
Resourced· Requires Improvement
Acresfield Academy
Resourced· Outstanding
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy
Resourced
Dee Banks School
Special· Good
Dorin Park School & Specialist SEN College
Special· Good
Rivacre Brook
Special
Greenbank School
Special
Fern House School and College
Special
Witton Church Walk CofE Aided Nursery and Primary School
Resourced
Lache Primary School
Resourced· Good
Frodsham Primary Academy
Resourced
Upton Westlea Primary School
Resourced· Requires Improvement
Oaklands School
Special· Good
Woodlands Primary School
Resourced· Good
Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School
Resourced· Outstanding
The Catholic High School, Chester
Resourced· 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: Cheshire West and Chester Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.