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SEND in County Durham

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about County Durham — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 282 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
County Durham's SEND Local Offer
Services, support, education, health and social care for 0–25s with SEND
Visit Local Offer →

EHCP Timeliness

Latest DfE data (2024)
Issued within 20 weeks16.6%
National average: 45.9%
Based on 920 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 requests data (2024)
Requests received
1,009
Refused (no assessment)
316
Refusal rate31.3%
National: 25.2%
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 County Durham.
Source: HMCTS SENDIST stats ↗

SEN Population

Pupils across all schools in this LA
Live EHCPs maintained (2024/25)
Total EHCPs in force across the LA
5,390
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
6.1% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
4,528
SEN Support (no EHCP)
24.9% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
18,345
Total pupils
73,690

SEN Provision in County Durham

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
13
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
5
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
14
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in County Durham

DfE data (2024/25)
Most common need in County Durham
Autism— 40.7% of EHCPs
Autism40.7%
Social Emotional & Mental Health20.8%
Speech Language & Communication18.7%
Moderate Learning Difficulties11%
Severe Learning Difficulties2.5%
Other1.3%
Profound & Multiple LD1.2%
Specific Learning Difficulties1.1%
Physical Disability1.1%
Hearing Impairment0.6%
Visual 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 County Durham

29 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Horden Nursery School
Resourced· Outstanding
Forest Park School
Special
Hope Wood Academy
SEN Unit· Good
Croft Community School
Special· Good
Seaview Primary School
SEN UnitResourced· Good
Strawberry Lane
Special
Greenland Community Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
Elemore Hall School
Special· Good
Chester-Le-Street CofE (Controlled) Primary School
Resourced· Good
Leadgate Primary School - Split Site
Resourced· Good
Wheatley Hill Community Primary School
Resourced· Good
Villa Real School
Special· Good
Durham Trinity School & Sports College
Special· Good
Walworth School
Special· Good
Burnopfield Primary School
Resourced· Good
Durham Gilesgate Primary School
Resourced· Good
The Grange Learning Centre
Special
Timothy Hackworth Primary School
Resourced· Good
Trimdon Hill School
Special
Evergreen Primary School
Special· Good
Highcroft School
SpecialSEN Unit
North East Centre for Autism - Aycliffe School
SpecialSEN Unit
Durham Academy
Resourced· Requires Improvement
The Oaks Secondary School
Special· Outstanding
Belmont Cheveley Park Primary School
Resourced· Good
Howletch Lane Primary School
Resourced· Good
Woodham Academy
Resourced· Good
Belmont Community School
Resourced· Good
Bishop Barrington Academy
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: County Durham Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.