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SEND in Peterborough

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Peterborough — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 90 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Peterborough's SEND Local Offer
Services, support, education, health and social care for 0–25s with SEND
Visit Local Offer →
Ofsted rating: Peterborough's children's services are currently rated Inadequate. 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 weeks89.4%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 389 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
685
Refused (no assessment)
223
Refusal rate32.6%
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 Peterborough.
Source: HMCTS SENDIST stats ↗

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks75.5%
National: 44.4%
Based on 1,400 review meetings held in 2024. 46 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
2,908
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
5.2% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
2,165
SEN Support (no EHCP)
15.5% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
6,430
Total pupils
41,354

SEN Provision in Peterborough

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
4
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
3
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
9
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Peterborough

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Peterborough
Speech Language & Communication— 18.9% of EHCPs
Speech Language & Communication18.9%
Social Emotional & Mental Health18.3%
Autism15.3%
Moderate Learning Difficulties14.8%
Multi-Sensory Impairment1.7%
Specific Learning Difficulties0.2%
Physical Disability0.2%
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 Peterborough

14 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Nene Park Academy
Resourced· Good
St John Fisher Catholic High School
Resourced· Good
Jack Hunt Academy
Resourced· Good
Welbourne Primary Academy
Resourced· Good
Nova Primary Academy
Resourced
Ormiston Meadows Academy
Resourced
Southfields Primary School
Resourced
NeneGate
Resourced
Heltwate School
Special· Good
Park House
Special
Marshfields School
Special· Good
The Beeches Independent School
SpecialSEN UnitResourced
Medeshamstede Academy
SEN Unit

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