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SEND in Westmorland and Furness

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Westmorland and Furness — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 162 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Westmorland and Furness'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 weeks91.6%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 331 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
509
Refused (no assessment)
91
Refusal rate17.9%
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 Westmorland and Furness.
Source: DfE EES ↗

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks38.4%
National: 44.4%
Based on 1,919 review meetings held in 2024. 85 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
2,377
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
6.7% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
2,152
SEN Support (no EHCP)
19.5% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
6,238
Total pupils
31,918

SEN Provision in Westmorland and Furness

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
11
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Westmorland and Furness

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Westmorland and Furness
Social Emotional & Mental Health— 36.2% of EHCPs
Social Emotional & Mental Health36.2%
Speech Language & Communication32.9%
Autism13.9%
Moderate Learning Difficulties7%
Specific Learning Difficulties5.3%
Severe Learning Difficulties3.1%
Physical Disability1.1%
Profound & Multiple LD0.3%
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 Westmorland and Furness

21 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
SwitchED2
Special
The Lakes School
Resourced· Good
South Lakes Academy
Special
Cambian Whinfell School
SpecialSEN Unit
Fell House School
Special
Ullswater Community College
Resourced· Good
North Lakes School
Resourced· Good
Greengate Junior School
Resourced· Good
Appleby Primary School
SEN UnitResourced· Good
Sandside Lodge School
SpecialResourced· Good
Oversands School
Special
Beaconside CofE Primary School
Resourced· Good
Appletree School
Special
George Hastwell School Special Academy
Resourced
Vickerstown School
Resourced
Underley Garden School
Special
Sandgate School
Special· Good
Cairn Education CIC
Special
The Queen Katherine School
Resourced· Good
Stramongate Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Settlebeck School
Resourced

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