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SEND in Sefton

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Sefton — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 116 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Sefton'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 weeks53.1%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 869 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
951
Refused (no assessment)
60
Refusal rate6.3%
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 Sefton.
Source: HMCTS SENDIST stats ↗

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks36.2%
National: 44.4%
Based on 2,619 review meetings held in 2024. 313 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
3,736
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
6.1% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
2,489
SEN Support (no EHCP)
17.3% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
7,024
Total pupils
40,699

SEN Provision in Sefton

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
12
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
12
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
6
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Sefton

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Sefton
Speech Language & Communication— 30.2% of EHCPs
Speech Language & Communication30.2%
Social Emotional & Mental Health27.5%
Autism26.7%
Moderate Learning Difficulties7.7%
Specific Learning Difficulties3.7%
Physical Disability1.9%
Other0.6%
Multi-Sensory Impairment0.5%
Severe Learning Difficulties0.4%
Visual Impairment0.4%
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 Sefton

28 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Foundations for LIFE School
Special
PANDA Schools
Special
Cambridge Nursery School
Resourced
Greenacre Community Nursery School
Resourced
Bishop David Sheppard Church of England Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Thomas Gray Primary School
SEN Unit
Crosby High School
Special· Good
Acre View Primary School
Special
Freshfield Primary School
SEN Unit· Outstanding
Formby High School
SEN Unit· Good
St Michaels Church of England Academy
SEN UnitResourced· Inadequate
Educ8 Liverpool
Special
Educ8 Southport
Special
Newfield School
Special· Good
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School
SEN UnitResourced
Meols Cop High School
Resourced· Good
Redgate Community Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Presfield High School and Specialist College
Special· Good
Marshside Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
The Grange Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Hudson Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Kings Meadow Primary School and Early Years Education Centre
Resourced· Good
Olsen House School
Special
Holy Family Catholic High School
SEN Unit· Good
SENDSCOPE
Special
The Motiv8 School
Special
Peterhouse School
Special· Requires Improvement
Waterloo Primary School
SEN Unit· 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: Sefton Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.