Funding for learners with SEND
For most learners in mainstream schools, including those with special needs, money is allocated to them through the school budget. Within this, there are two resources available to the school to meet the needs of all its pupils.
Element 1 funding
This is money provided for a school according to how many pupils there are in the school and what ages they are; this is known as the Basic Per Pupil Entitlement or the Age Weighted Pupil Unit (AWPU). This funding is intended to pay for a Quality First, differentiated curriculum which meets the needs of all children in the school and a proportion of this should be spent on support for special educational needs (SEN). It’s from this core budget that things such as the SENCo’s salary should be paid from. The current values are as follows:
- Primary: £2,764.25
- Key Stage 3: £3,708.09
- Key Stage 4: £4,945.60
Element 2 funding
The amount a school receives in this element depends on:
- anticipated levels of social deprivation; and
- lower than expected levels of attainment in English and Maths.
The majority of support for SEN in schools comes from these two sources of funding. This funding enables schools to offer targeted support for all pupils with SEN&D, including teaching support in small groups and individual work with those pupils who need it.
These resources are available to all children with special needs in mainstream classes whether or not they have Education, Health and Care Plans or Statements of SEN.
This element is referred to as SEN Notional funding. Schools are expected to fund up to the first £6,000 of a pupil’s individual SEND provision from this funding.
The funding is not “ring fenced”; it is part of their general revenue funding. However schools have statutory duties which require them to:
- “identify and address the SEN of the pupils they support”;
- “use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEN gets the support they need – this means doing everything they can to meet children and young people’s SEN” (6.2 Code of Practice);
- “make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services for disabled children, to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage” (6.9 Code of Practice).
Element 3 funding for Children & Young People with Education, Health & Care Plans - High Needs’ Funding
There will always be a small number of children whose needs are so complex that money to support them can only be allocated on an individual basis. In these cases the school can apply for Element 3, High Needs’ funding. This funding provides for children in mainstream schools with the most complex needs.
Which children should receive this funding, how much they should receive and for how long is decided by a range of professionals with experience and expertise in SEN working together in the best interests of the child. Head Teachers and SEN Coordinators who would like to volunteer to be on the High Needs’ Funding Panel rota should email sen@warwickshire.gov.uk.
Before making a request, schools are asked to demonstrate how they have used their delegated resources –elements 1&2- to make appropriate, targeted provision and that they have sought external specialist input over time to monitor that support.
The LA, in collaboration with schools and health, has published the SEND Provision Matrix, a tool to outline what schools should be providing as part of their universal and targeted offer: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/sendocs
Schools are advised to use this Matrix as a prompt when reviewing their SEND Information Report, to make clear what they are providing as part of their own universal and targeted provision. Schools are also asked to reference the Matrix, showing how they have used their own resources, before applying to the Local Authority for High Needs’ Funding.