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SEND in Darlington

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Darlington — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 48 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Darlington'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 weeks72.5%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 172 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
245
Refused (no assessment)
58
Refusal rate23.7%
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 Darlington.
Source: HMCTS SENDIST stats ↗

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks68.8%
National: 44.4%
Based on 882 review meetings held in 2024. 19 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
1,122
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
6.4% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
1,040
SEN Support (no EHCP)
14.6% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
2,377
Total pupils
16,278

SEN Provision in Darlington

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
4
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
2
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
4
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Darlington

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Darlington
Social Emotional & Mental Health— 33.7% of EHCPs
Social Emotional & Mental Health33.7%
Speech Language & Communication29.6%
Moderate Learning Difficulties15.3%
Autism12.8%
Profound & Multiple LD3.1%
Physical Disability2%
Severe Learning Difficulties1.5%
Specific Learning Difficulties1%
Visual Impairment1%
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 Darlington

10 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Pear Tree School
Special
Beaumont Hill Academy
SEN Unit· Good
Red Hall Primary School
SEN Unit
Heathfield Primary School
Resourced· Good
Embleton View
Special
Hurworth House School Aspris Children's services
Special
Oakwood Learning Centre
Special
Marchbank Free School
Resourced· Good
Mount Pleasant Primary School
Resourced· Good
Hurworth School
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: Darlington Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.