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SEND in Northumberland

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Northumberland — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 175 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Northumberland'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 weeks49.0%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 743 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
1,021
Refused (no assessment)
285
Refusal rate27.9%
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

Appeals against LA decisions
Tribunal data not yet imported for Northumberland.
Source: HMCTS SENDIST stats ↗

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks10.1%
National: 44.4%
Based on 2,944 review meetings held in 2024. 141 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
3,873
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
7.5% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
3,213
SEN Support (no EHCP)
17.1% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
7,305
Total pupils
42,670

SEN Provision in Northumberland

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
11
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
12
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
8
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Northumberland

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Northumberland
Social Emotional & Mental Health— 35.3% of EHCPs
Social Emotional & Mental Health35.3%
Speech Language & Communication28%
Autism19%
Specific Learning Difficulties4.9%
Moderate Learning Difficulties4.9%
Physical Disability1.6%
Visual Impairment1.1%
Hearing Impairment0.7%
Severe Learning Difficulties0.5%
Other0.4%
Profound & Multiple LD0.1%
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 Northumberland

21 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Cramlington Learning Village
Resourced
Barndale School
SpecialSEN UnitResourced
Hexham Priory School
SEN Unit· Outstanding
Red Row Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Collingwood School & Media Arts College
SpecialSEN Unit· Good
The Apex Academy
Special
Berwick Academy
Resourced· Requires Improvement
Gust Independent School
Special
Rosewood Independent School
Special
The Dales School
SpecialSEN Unit· Outstanding
Emily Wilding Davison School
SpecialSEN Unit· Good
Cramlington Northburn Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Cleaswell Hill School
Special· Outstanding
Cramlington Hillcrest School
SpecialSEN Unit· Good
The Grove Special School
SpecialSEN Unit· Good
NCEA Castle School
Resourced· Good
Howard House School
SpecialSEN UnitResourced
Seaton Valley High School
Resourced· Good
Cambois Primary School
Resourced· Good
Seaton Sluice First School
SEN UnitResourced· 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: Northumberland Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.