- guardian.co.uk, Sunday July 21 2002 11.00 BST
An Audit Commission report published last month found that the average statement takes six months to produce and that it was "stressful and alienating" and that most parents said they "had to fight" to have their child's needs recognised. The Audit Commission also found that being statemented often 'adds little value' to a child's education.
The process of statementing each child costs the LEA around around £2,500 per child on average. The number of pupils with statements has actually fallen slightly over the last two years, although experts believe that the number of children with special educational needs has risen.
Government policy is to educate children with statements of SEN in mainstream maintained schools wherever possible. 60.2% of children with statements are educated in mainstream schools - a small rise over the last four years - but these children are three times more likely than their peers to be excluded from school.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act passed last year specifically protects disabled children from being excluded on grounds relating to their disability. But campaigners fear that there are not adequate checks and balances in place to ensure these rights are upheld - and that pressure to perform well in league tables may provide an incentive for schools to exclude children with special needs.
There has been a steady year on year rise in children with special needs being educated outside the state sector. Some parents have responded to the difficulty of gaining specialist places by creating their own schools for children outside the state system.
(Sources: Department of Education, Audit Commission, National Autistic Society)
