Education

EDCM supports the work of the Special Educational Consortium (SEC), one of EDCM's four founding member organisations. Find out more about SEC's work here.

Children with special education needs and disabled children in education

The time that children and young people spend in an educational setting helps them to prepare for the rest of their lives.

Children with special education needs and disabled children (children with SEND) want the same opportunities and have the same rights as non-disabled students to achieve qualifications and skills.

However, children with SEND are nine times more likely to be excluded from school than the rest of the school population.

In 2011 approximately 1.67m children were categorised as having SEND, and estimates usually fall between 18-20% of all children that will have some form of learning difficulty.

Inclusion in education

There are many barriers that contribute to poor experiences for children with special education needs and disabled children in mainstream education settings. These include inadequate facilities and signage; not making the right adjustments in exams; a lack of inclusion in activities and school trips; and low expectations for disabled students.

In EDCM's Disabled children's manifesto for change, disabled children and young people said that they want the Government to 'push schools, colleges and apprenticeship schemes to promote opportunities for disabled children and young people.'

Read more about what  disabled children and young people have to say on their experiences of education in the Disabled children's manifesto for change.