Everything parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to know about West Sussex — the Local Offer, EHCP timeliness, tribunal stats, and all 339 schools with their SEN provision.
Ofsted rating: West Sussex's children's services are currently rated Requires improvement. This means Ofsted has concerns about some services for children. It does not directly reflect SEND support, but SEND provision is often scrutinised in separate Area SEND inspections.
EHCP Timeliness
Latest DfE data (2024)
Issued within 20 weeks11.4%
National average: 45.9%
Based on 1,495 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
2,448
Refused (no assessment)
744
Refusal rate30.4%
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.
School-level SEN data: DfE Education Health and Care plans release + GIAS. LA-level stats: DfE EES + HMCTS SENDIST. Local Offer: West Sussex Council. National benchmarks are most-recent published values. Last updated: 20 April 2026.