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SEND in Southampton

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Southampton — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 87 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Southampton'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 weeks97.5%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 336 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
569
Refused (no assessment)
28
Refusal rate4.9%
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 Southampton.
Source: HMCTS SENDIST stats ↗

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks11.0%
National: 44.4%
Based on 2,092 review meetings held in 2024. 333 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
2,785
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
6.4% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
2,231
SEN Support (no EHCP)
16.2% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
5,688
Total pupils
35,025

SEN Provision in Southampton

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
7
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
4
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
8
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Southampton

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Southampton
Autism— 44.7% of EHCPs
Autism44.7%
Speech Language & Communication26.3%
Social Emotional & Mental Health16.6%
Moderate Learning Difficulties3.6%
Hearing Impairment2.1%
Physical Disability0.9%
Specific Learning Difficulties0.6%
Profound & Multiple LD0.6%
Multi-Sensory Impairment0.6%
Severe Learning Difficulties0.3%
Visual 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 Southampton

16 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Woodlands Community College
SEN UnitResourced
Yarrow Heights School
Special
Rosewood Free School
SEN Unit· Outstanding
The Cedar School
Special· Good
The Polygon School
Special· Good
Springwell School
Special· Outstanding
Vermont School
Special
The Serendipity School
Special
Mason Moor Primary School, Nursery & Specialist Bases
SEN UnitResourced· Requires Improvement
St Patrick's Catholic Primary School
Resourced· Good
Cantell School
Resourced· Outstanding
Holy Family Catholic Primary School - Part of the Learning Federation Partnership of Schools
Resourced· Good
Bitterne Park School
Resourced· Good
Redbridge Community School
SEN UnitResourced· Good
New Avenue School
Special
Newlands Primary 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: Southampton Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.