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SEND in Kent

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Kent: the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 500 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Kent's SEND Local Offer
Services, support, education, health and social care for children and young people with SEND (birth to age 25)
Visit Local Offer →

EHCP Timeliness

DfE 2024 data (June 2025 release)
Issued within 20 weeks33.3%
National average: 46.4%
Based on 2,424 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
4,001
Refused (no assessment)
2,200
Refusal rate55.0%
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

DfE 2024 data (June 2025 release)
Appeals registered
1,559
Appeal rate
National mean: 2.8%
6.6%
Appealable decisions
23,692
Parent wins at hearing
National estimate (HMCTS)
~98%
Parents win the vast majority of SEND tribunal cases at hearing. If your EHCP request is refused, appealing is often worth pursuing. A high appeal rate may indicate contested decisions locally.

Annual Review Decisions

DfE 2025 release (2024 calendar year) · First published this year
Review decisions within 4 weeks33.6%
National: 44.4%
Based on 15,376 review meetings held in 2024. 1,958 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
20,635
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
0.0% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
18
SEN Support (no EHCP)
0.1% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
154
Total pupils
176,560

SEN Provision in Kent

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
48
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
10
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
51
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Kent

DfE 2024/25 data (June 2025 release)
Most common need in Kent
Autism, 42% of EHCPs
Autism42%
Speech Language & Communication22.8%
Social Emotional & Mental Health21.9%
Moderate Learning Difficulties3.8%
Physical Disability2.4%
Specific Learning Difficulties2%
Severe Learning Difficulties1.9%
Profound & Multiple LD0.6%
Hearing Impairment0.6%
Visual Impairment0.3%
Multi-Sensory Impairment0.2%
Other0.1%
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 Kent

98 schools, special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
The Quest School
Special
The Sittingbourne School
Resourced
Leigh Academy Langley Park
Resourced· Good
Joy Lane Primary Foundation School
Resourced· Good
Laurel House School
Special
Oakley School
Special
Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard
Resourced· Outstanding
Ashford Oaks Community Primary School
Resourced· Good
Dover Christ Church Academy
SEN Unit
Fairlight Glen Independent Special School
Special
St Faith's At Ash School Limited
Resourced
Earley Springs
Special
The Oaks Infant School
Resourced
The Skinners' School
Resourced
Broomhill Bank School
SpecialSEN UnitResourced
Maple Haven Ltd
Special
ISP School Whitstable
Special
Orchards Academy
Resourced
Whitfield Aspen School
Resourced
The Abbey School
SEN UnitResourced
Kings Park School
Special
Bromstone Primary School, Broadstairs
Resourced
Cage Green Primary School
Resourced· Good
Chilmington Green Primary School
Resourced· Good
Bishops Down Primary and Nursery School
Resourced· Requires Improvement
Infiniti School
Special
Life Skills Enterprise
Special
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Broadstairs
Resourced
Leigh Academy Molehill
Resourced· Good
Martello Primary
Resourced· Good
Showing 30 of 98. Use the SEN Finder to filter and search all of them.

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