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SEND in Dorset

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Dorset — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 184 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Dorset'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 weeks49.1%
National average: 45.9%
Based on 585 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
881
Refused (no assessment)
175
Refusal rate19.9%
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 Dorset.
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
4,333
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
6.7% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
3,515
SEN Support (no EHCP)
21.5% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
11,230
Total pupils
52,335

SEN Provision in Dorset

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
11
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
4
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
17
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Dorset

DfE data (2024/25)
Most common need in Dorset
Social Emotional & Mental Health— 32.6% of EHCPs
Social Emotional & Mental Health32.6%
Speech Language & Communication24.8%
Autism22.2%
Specific Learning Difficulties6.8%
Moderate Learning Difficulties5.7%
Physical Disability3.1%
Other1.6%
Severe Learning Difficulties0.8%
Hearing Impairment0.8%
Visual Impairment0.8%
Profound & Multiple LD0.3%
Multi-Sensory 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 Dorset

29 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
The Prince of Wales School
Resourced· Good
Harbour School Dorset
SEN Unit· Good
Harbour Vale School
Resourced· Good
Damers First School
Resourced
Bridport, St Mary's Church of England Primary School
Resourced· Good
Aurora Beeches School
Special
Budmouth Academy Weymouth
SEN UnitResourced
Yewstock School
Special· Outstanding
Bincombe Valley Primary School
SEN UnitResourced· Good
The Luccombe Hub
Special
Sheiling School
Special
The Woodroffe School
Resourced· Good
The Gryphon School
Resourced· Good
Wyke Regis Infant School and Nursery
Resourced· Good
Beaminster School
Resourced· Good
Dorchester Middle School
Resourced· Requires Improvement
Mountjoy School
Special· Good
Beaucroft Foundation School
Special· Good
Parley First School
Resourced· Good
Arbour House School
Special
Westfield Arts College
Special· Outstanding
West Moors Middle School
Resourced· Good
Graduately Developing Futures
Special
The Forum School
Special
Kingfisher School
Special
St Mary's Church of England Middle School, Puddletown
Resourced· Good
Gillingham Primary School
Resourced
Ferndown Upper School
Resourced· Good
The Thomas Hardye School
SEN UnitResourced

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