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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 0–25s with SEND
Visit Local Offer →

EHCP Timeliness

Latest DfE data (2024)
Issued within 20 weeks32.3%
National average: 45.9%
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 requests data (2024)
Requests received
4,001
Refused (no assessment)
2,200
Refusal rate55.0%
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 Kent.
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
20,635
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
6.9% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
12,263
SEN Support (no EHCP)
21.9% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
39,162
Total pupils
178,866

SEN Provision in Kent

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
49
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
11
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
53
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Kent

DfE data (2024/25)
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

102 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
The Sittingbourne School
Resourced· Good
The Skinners' School
Resourced· Good
St Faith's At Ash School Limited
Resourced
Ashford Oaks Community Primary School
Resourced· Good
The Llewellyn School and Nursery
Special
Dover Christ Church Academy
SEN Unit· Requires Improvement
Earley Springs
Special
The Quest School
Special
The Oaks Infant School
Resourced
Chilmington Green Primary School
Resourced· Good
Leigh Academy Langley Park
Resourced· Good
Joy Lane Primary Foundation School
Resourced· Good
Maple Haven Ltd
Special
ISP School Whitstable
Special
St Nicholas Church of England Primary Academy
Resourced· Good
Orchards Academy
Resourced· Good
Whitfield Aspen School
Resourced
Kings Park School
Special
Bromstone Primary School, Broadstairs
Resourced
Broomhill Bank School
SpecialSEN UnitResourced· Good
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Broadstairs
Resourced
Cage Green Primary School
Resourced· Good
Green Park Community Primary School
Resourced· Outstanding
The Abbey School
SEN UnitResourced· Inadequate
Infiniti School
Special
Life Skills Enterprise
Special
Temple Hill Primary Academy
SEN UnitResourced
Oakley School
Special· Good
Margate, Holy Trinity and St John's Church of England Primary School
Resourced· Good
Elms School
Special· Good
Showing 30 of 102. 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.