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SEND in Rochdale

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Rochdale: the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 105 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Rochdale'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 →
Ofsted rating: Rochdale's children's services were rated Requires improvement at their last full inspection in March 2023. That inspection is now 3+ years old; councils rated Inadequate typically receive monitoring visits during the improvement period, which may show different findings. Check the Ofsted reports page for the latest monitoring visits. This rating covers children's social care, not SEND support directly, though SEND provision is scrutinised in separate Area SEND inspections. Note: Ofsted is phasing out headline children's services ratings from April 2026.

EHCP Timeliness

DfE 2024 data (June 2025 release)
Issued within 20 weeks42.2%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 415 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
755
Refused (no assessment)
182
Refusal rate24.1%
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
45
Appeal rate
National mean: 2.8%
1.4%
Appealable decisions
3,181
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 weeks40.6%
National: 44.4%
Based on 2,296 review meetings held in 2024. 155 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
2,970
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
0
SEN Support (no EHCP)
0
Total pupils
35,211

SEN Provision in Rochdale

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
10
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 Rochdale

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Rochdale
Social Emotional & Mental Health, 34.8% of EHCPs
Social Emotional & Mental Health34.8%
Speech Language & Communication24.6%
Autism8.8%
Physical Disability1.9%
Moderate Learning Difficulties1.3%
Profound & Multiple LD1.3%
Specific Learning Difficulties0.6%
Hearing 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 Rochdale

17 schools, special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Willow View School
Special
Healey Learning Centre
Special
Whitehall Academy
Special
Wardle Academy
Resourced· Good
Deeplish Primary Academy
Resourced· Good
Oak Haven School
Special· Requires Improvement
Boarshaw Community Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Springside
Special· Good
Great Howarth School
Special
Marland Hill Community Primary School
Resourced· Good
Cedar Lodge School
Special
Newlands School
Special· Good
Meadows School
Special
Shawclough Community Primary School
SEN UnitResourced· Good
Norden Primary Academy
SEN Unit· Good
Redwood
Special· Good
Matthew Moss High 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: Rochdale Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.