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SEND in Portsmouth

Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about Portsmouth — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 67 schools with their SEN provision.

OFFICIAL LOCAL OFFER
Portsmouth'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 weeks4.3%
National average: 45.9%
Based on 485 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
516
Refused (no assessment)
92
Refusal rate17.8%
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 Portsmouth.
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
2,310
EHCP pupils (rolled up from schools)
5.8% of pupils · Nat avg: 4.8%
1,757
SEN Support (no EHCP)
14.8% of pupils · Nat avg: 13.6%
4,451
Total pupils
30,170

SEN Provision in Portsmouth

Schools with specialist support
Special schools
Dedicated SEN schools
0
With SEN units
Mainstream schools with a dedicated SEN unit
7
With resourced provision
Specialist places within mainstream schools
3
Open SEN Finder →

Primary Needs of EHCP Pupils in Portsmouth

DfE data (2024/25)
Most common need in Portsmouth
Social Emotional & Mental Health— 41.7% of EHCPs
Social Emotional & Mental Health41.7%
Speech Language & Communication22.8%
Autism20.9%
Moderate Learning Difficulties6.5%
Physical Disability3%
Specific Learning Difficulties1.8%
Profound & Multiple LD1%
Hearing Impairment0.6%
Visual Impairment0.6%
Severe Learning Difficulties0.4%
Other0.4%
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 Portsmouth

10 schools — special schools, SEN units, and resourced provision
Penbridge Infant School & Nursery
SEN Unit
Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery
SEN Unit· Good
The Victory Primary School
SEN Unit
Trafalgar School
Resourced· Good
Southsea Infant School
SEN Unit· Good
Devonshire Infant School
SEN Unit· Good
St Edmund's Catholic School
Resourced· Outstanding
The Flying Bull Academy
Resourced· Good
Milton Park Primary School
SEN Unit· Good
The Portsmouth Academy
SEN Unit· 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: Portsmouth Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.