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SEND in Gateshead

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Gateshead — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 92 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Gateshead'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 weeks80.8%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 266 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
363
Refused (no assessment)
118
Refusal rate32.5%
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 Gateshead.
Source: HMCTS SENDIST stats ↗

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks4.6%
National: 44.4%
Based on 1,570 review meetings held in 2024. 18 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
1,923
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
8.3% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
2,534
SEN Support (no EHCP)
36.8% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
11,185
Total pupils
30,378

SEN Provision in Gateshead

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
6
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
3
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
5
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Gateshead

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Gateshead
Autism— 45.9% of EHCPs
Autism45.9%
Social Emotional & Mental Health22.4%
Speech Language & Communication20.5%
Moderate Learning Difficulties5.7%
Profound & Multiple LD1.5%
Physical Disability1.5%
Other0.9%
Severe Learning Difficulties0.6%
Visual Impairment0.6%
Hearing Impairment0.3%
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 Gateshead

13 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Hill Top School
Special· Good
Birtley East Community Primary School
Resourced· Good
Thorp Academy
Resourced· Good
Whickham School
Resourced· Good
Lobley Hill Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Rowlands Gill Community Primary School
Resourced· Good
Furrowfield School
Special· Good
Gibside School
Special· Outstanding
Eslington Primary School
Special· Outstanding
Bede Community Primary School
Resourced· Good
Haskel School
SpecialSEN Unit
Swalwell Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Dryden School
Special· 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: Gateshead Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.