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SEND in Dorset

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Dorset: the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 184 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Dorset's SEND Local Offer
Services, support, education, health and social care for children and young people with SEND (birth to age 25)
Visit Local Offer →

EHCP Timeliness

DfE 2024 data (June 2025 release)
Issued within 20 weeks49.1%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 585 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
881
Refused (no assessment)
175
Refusal rate19.9%
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

DfE 2024 data (June 2025 release)
Appeals registered
154
Appeal rate
National mean: 2.8%
3.3%
Appealable decisions
4,622
Parent wins at hearing
National estimate (HMCTS)
~98%
Parents win the vast majority of SEND tribunal cases at hearing. If your EHCP request is refused, appealing is often worth pursuing. A high appeal rate may indicate contested decisions locally.

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks50.4%
National: 44.4%
Based on 3,501 review meetings held in 2024. 125 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
4,333
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
0
SEN Support (no EHCP)
0
Total pupils
52,335

SEN Provision in Dorset

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
11
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
4
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
18
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Dorset

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Dorset
Social Emotional & Mental Health, 32.6% of EHCPs
Social Emotional & Mental Health32.6%
Speech Language & Communication24.8%
Autism22.2%
Specific Learning Difficulties6.8%
Moderate Learning Difficulties5.7%
Physical Disability3.1%
Other1.6%
Severe Learning Difficulties0.8%
Hearing Impairment0.8%
Visual Impairment0.8%
Profound & Multiple LD0.3%
Multi-Sensory 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 Dorset

30 schools, special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Harbour School Dorset
SEN Unit
Damers First School
Resourced
Aurora Beeches School
Special
Bincombe Valley Primary School
SEN UnitResourced
Yewstock School
Special
The Luccombe Hub
Special
The Prince of Wales School
Resourced· Good
Bridport, St Mary's Church of England Primary School
Resourced· Good
Budmouth Academy Weymouth
SEN UnitResourced· Requires Improvement
Harbour Vale School
Resourced
Sheiling School
Special
The Woodroffe School
Resourced· Good
The Gryphon School
Resourced· Good
Wyke Regis Infant School and Nursery
Resourced· Good
Beaminster School
Resourced· Good
Dorchester Middle School
Resourced· Requires Improvement
Mountjoy School
Special· Good
Beaucroft Foundation School
Special· Good
Parley First School
Resourced· Good
Arbour House School
Special
Westfield Arts College
Special· Outstanding
West Moors Middle School
Resourced· Good
Graduately Developing Futures
Special
The Forum School
Special
Kingfisher School
Special
St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown
Resourced· Good
Gillingham Primary School
Resourced· Requires Improvement
Gillingham School
Resourced· Good
Ferndown Upper School
Resourced· Good
The Thomas Hardye School
SEN UnitResourced· Outstanding

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