RNIB Supporting people with sight lossResearch Briefing

Official data on children and young people with vision impairment in England 2016

RNIB briefing report 1: Population characteristicsAuthor: Sue KeilPublisher: RNIBDate of publication: February 2017

RNIB Registered charity numbers 226227, SC039316

Abbreviations usedTerminology AbbreviationSpecial educational needs SENEducation, health and care plan EHCPSpecific learning difficulty SpLDModerate Learning Difficulty MLDSevere Learning Difficulty SLDProfound and multiple learning difficulty PMLDSocial, emotional and mental health SEMHSpeech, language and communication needs SLCNHearing impariment HIVisual impairment VIMulti-sensory impairment MSIPhysical disability PDAutistic spectrum disorder ASDOther difficulty/disability OtherSEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need

NK

No secondary SEN identified No sec SEN

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Key findings

Most of the official SEN data that is published by DfE relates only to pupils’ primary (or main) special educational need (SEN). However, some additional tables have been published that give a breakdown by primary and secondary SEN type. The key findings are therefore split into: information about pupils with VI as their primary or secondary SEN; and information about pupils with VI as their primary SEN

Local authorities that use the published statistics to benchmark their own data on pupils with VI should use caution when using the data that is by primary SEN group only. That is because the published data under-represent both the number of pupils with VI and the proportion with additional SEN.

These statistics apply only to pupils in England in January 2016

Pupils whose primary or secondary SEN was VI

16,701 pupils with an EHCP or on ‘SEN support’ were recorded as having VI as their primary or secondary SEN

11,592 pupils had VI as their primary SEN and 5,109 had VI as their secondary SEN

Even when pupils with VI as their secondary SEN were included in the total, the number of pupils with VI was almost 10,000 fewer than the number who were known to specialist VI education services in 2015

50% of pupils with VI had an additional SEN The majority (72%) of pupils with VI as their primary SEN had no additional

SEN recorded

9.5% of pupils with VI also had MLD recorded; 6.9% had PMLD and 4.8% had SLD

The majority of pupils with VI were on ‘SEN support’ rather than having an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or statement

Most pupils who had an EHCP/statement had another SEN in addition to their VI

Pupils whose primary SEN was VI

11,592 pupils with an EHCP or on ‘SEN support’ were recorded as having VI as their primary SEN

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Over half (55%) of pupils with VI as their primary SEN were males Males were just as likely as females to have an EHCP or statement

Three quarters (74.8%) of pupils with VI as their primary SEN were of White background, most of whom were White British

The majority (81.1%) spoke English as their first language, which is the same proportion as for all pupils

Only 207 children aged three and under were recorded with VI as their primary SEN. This low figure may reflect the fact that much specialist support for babies and toddlers with VI is provided in a home setting while these statistics apply to children in state funded school settings

Only 769 (6.6%) pupils with VI as their primary SEN attended special schools 372 special schools in England had approved provision for pupils with VI – the

main designation of the vast majority of these schools was for pupils with types of SEN other than VI

Just under a quarter (22.8%) of pupils with VI were claiming free schools meals

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1. Introduction

This is the first in a series of RNIB briefings in which we present data published by the Department for Education (DfE). The data in this briefing are taken from tables in the DfE publication ‘Special educational needs in England: January 2016’. The full reference and a link to the downloadable DfE report and tables are given at the end of this briefing.

The figures here apply to pupils in state funded primary and secondary schools and special schools in England. They include: All primary academies, including free schools City technology colleges, university technology colleges and all secondary

academies, including free schools and studio schools Maintained and non-maintained special schools and all special academies,

including free schools. They exclude: General hospital schools Pupil referral units Independent schools

Most of the official SEN data that is published by DfE relates only to pupils’ primary (or main) special educational need (SEN). However, in a separate publication, DfE has included some additional tables giving a breakdown by primary and secondary SEN type. Information from these additional tables is presented in section 2 of this briefing, which gives numbers of pupils with VI as their primary or secondary SEN, and the types of SEN that co-occur with VI.

Section 3 relates only to pupils with VI as their primary SEN. Reflecting the information provided in the DfE published tables, section 3 includes covers details about age, gender, ethnicity, type of school attended, and entitlement to free school meals.

Section 4 discusses how to interpret some of the statistics on pupils with VI presented in this briefing, and the limitations of the data.

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2. Pupils with VI as their primary (main) or secondary SEN (January 2016)

2.1 Number of pupils with VI as their primary or secondary SEN

Table 1: Pupils with VI with and without additional SEN in 2016Primary or secondary SEN Number PercentageVI as primary SEN, no secondary SEN 8,404 50.3%VI as primary SEN, with secondary SEN 3,188 19.1%VI as secondary SEN 5,109 30.6%Total 16,701 100%

As can be seen from tables 1 and 2, in January 2016 the number of pupils recorded with VI as their primary or secondary SEN was 16,701. This is 0.19% of the total pupil population in January 2016 (total pupil population was 8,559,540).

As table 1 shows, of the 16,701 pupils with VI, half (8,404) had VI recorded as their only SEN and half had an additional SEN recorded.

Table 2: Pupils whose primary or secondary SEN was VI by additional SEN group in 2016Other type of SEN VI as primary

(main) SENVI as secondary SEN

Total

SpLD 334 468 802MLD 730 850 1,580SLD 119 677 796PMLD 50 1,099 1,149SEMH 326 306 632SLCN 472 509 981HI 195 176 371VI 10 * 10MSI 41 22 63PD 355 544 899ASD 183 275 458Other 340 163 503NK 33 20 53No sec SEN 8,404 n/a 8,404Total 11,592 5,109 16,701*10 pupils were recorded as having VI as their primary and secondary SEN. The 10 have been included in the total column to be consistent with the DfE tables

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Overall, 69% (11,592) of pupils had VI as their primary SEN and the remaining 31% (5,109) had VI as their secondary SEN.

The majority (72%) of the 11,592 pupils with VI recorded as their primary SEN had no secondary SEN identified.

2.2 Type of support given to pupils with VI as their primary or secondary SEN

As shown in table 3, three in five (61%) pupils whose primary or secondary SEN was VI were on SEN support and the remaining two in five (39%) had a statement or EHC plan.

Table 3: Pupils with VI as their primary (main) or secondary SEN by type of support in 2016Support Number %SEN support 10,230 61%EHCP or statement 6,471 39%Total 16,701 100%

However, we know that half of pupils with VI (49.7%) had a secondary SEN in addition to their VI, and as shown in table 4, if we compare pupils with VI on SEN support with those with a statement or EHCP, we see that the majority on SEN support had VI recorded as their sole SEN (62.4%). For pupils with VI who had an EHCP the reverse was the case, with the majority (68.8%) having a VI and an additional SEN recorded.

Table 4: Pupils with VI as their primary (main) or secondary SEN by type of support and whether VI is their only recorded SENSupport % with VI as

only recorded SEN

% with VI and additional SEN

Total

SEN support 62.4% 37.6% 100%EHCP or statement 31.2% 68.8% 100%All 50.3% 49.7% 100%

2.3 Types of SEN recorded in addition to VI

2.3.1 Other types of SEN co-occuring with VILooking at table 5 we see that for pupils with VI, the most commonly occurring additional SEN was moderate learning difficulties (MLD). Nearly one in ten (9.5%) pupils with VI had MLD recorded as their primary or secondary SEN.

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Other types of learning difficulty also co-occur highly with VI, with 7% of pupils with VI having profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD). There were just under 5% with severe learning difficulties (SLD), with the same proportion having a specific learning difficulty (SpLD). In total, 4,327 pupils had some form of learning difficulty in addition to a vision impairment recorded as their primary or secondary SEN.

Table 5: Pupils with other types of SEN in addition to VI as a proportion of all pupils with VI as their primary or secondary SEN in 2016Other type of SEN As % of all

pupils with VITotal in each group

Specific Learning Difficulty 4.8% 802Moderate LD 9.5% 1,580Severe LD 4.8% 796Profound and multiple LD 6.9% 1,149Social, emotional and mental health 3.8% 632Speech language and communication needs 5.9% 981Hearing impairment 2.2% 371Visual Impairment - 10Multi-sensory impairment <0.5% 63Physical disability 5.4% 899Autistic spectrum disorder 2.7% 458Other difficulty/disability 3.0% 503Not known <0.5% 53No secondary SEN 50.3% 8,404Total 100% 16,701

Almost 1,000 pupils (6%) of pupils with VI also had speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Nearly 900 (5.4%) had a physical disability.

2.3.2 VI as a proportion within other SEN groupsTable 6 shows the proportion of pupils with VI in each of the other SEN groups.

Overall, 1.47% of pupils with SEN had VI as their primary or secondary SEN.

Pupils with PMLD were the SEN group with the highest proportion recorded as also having VI, followed by pupils with SLD. Nearly 12,000 pupils were recorded as having PMLD and of these, 9.7% had VI recorded as their primary or secondary SEN. Over 39,000 were recorded as having SLD and of these, 2% were recorded as having VI as their primary or secondary SEN.

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Table 6: Pupils with VI as a proportion of all pupils in each SEN group in 2016Other type of SEN Total with

VI in each SEN group

VI as % of all pupils in each SEN group

Specific Learning Difficulty 802 0.46%Moderate LD 1,580 0.49%Severe LD 796 2.00%Profound and multiple LD 1,149 9.70%Social, emotional and mental health 632 0.27%Speech language and communication needs 981 0.34%Hearing impairment 371 1.46%Multi-sensory impairment 63 1.65%Physical disability 899 2.00%Autistic spectrum disorder 458 0.39%Other difficulty/disability 503 0.67%Not known 53 0.13%

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3. Pupils with VI as their primary (main) SEN (January 2016)

The following tables apply to the 11,592 pupils whose primary SEN was VI, thereby excluding the 5,109 pupils with VI as their secondary SEN. As noted in the previous section, only 28% of these pupils had a secondary SEN recorded. Although the data provide useful information about pupil characteristics, it is important to be aware that they are not representative of the total population of children and young people with VI.

3.1 Characteristics of pupils whose primary SEN was VI

3.1.1 VI as a proportion of all primary SEN groupsAs shown in table 7, pupils with VI represented only 1.0% of all pupils in the primary SEN groups, compared to 1.8% who were HI and 0.2% MSI. The most commonly occurring SEN type was MLD (24.2%) followed by SLCN (19.5%) and SEMH (16.3%).

Table 7: Pupils with SEN by primary (main) SEN type in 2016Primary type of SEN Number %Specific learning difficulty 151,153 13.3%Moderate learning difficulty 273,627 24.2%Severe learning difficulty 32,304 2.9%Profound & multiple learning difficulty 10,914 1.0%Social, emotional & mental health 184,930 16.3%Speech, language and communications needs 221,456 19.5%Hearing impairment 20,499 1.8%Visual impairment 11,592 1.0%Multi- sensory Impairment 2,302 0.2%Physical disability 32,897 2.9%Autistic spectrum disorder 100,012 8.8%Other difficulty/disability 55,196 4.9%SEN support but no specialist assessment 36,025 3.2%All pupils with SEN 1,132,907 100%

3.1.2 Gender

Table 8: Pupils with VI as their primary (main) SEN by gender and type of SEN support in 2016Type of support Males

(number)Males%

Females (number)

Females%

All (number)

All%

SEN support 4,597 55.6% 3,665 44.4% 8,262 100%

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EHCP or statement 1,842 55.3% 1,488 44.7% 3,330 100%Total 6,439 55.5% 5,153 44.5% 11,592 100%

There were more males than females with VI: approximately 55% to 45%. The proportion of males to females was the same for pupils on SEN support and for those with a statement or EHCP. Males were no more or less likely than females to have a statement or EHCP; 28.6% of males and 28.9% of females had a statement or EHCP.

3.1.3 Age and national curriculum year groupTables 9 and 10 give a breakdown of numbers by age and national curriculum year groups. As would be expected, for most age/NC year groups there is a correspondence between the two (e.g. 207 are recorded as aged three or under which is only one less than the number in nursery years 1 and 2.The number of 11-year olds recorded was 921 and the number of year 7 pupils was 913).

Table 9: Number of pupils with VI as their primary (main) SEN by age and type of SEN support in 2016Age SEN support EHCP or statement All2 and under 24 3 273 158 22 1804 457 124 5815 589 169 7586 673 184 8577 665 210 8758 689 208 8979 621 268 88910 622 268 89011 661 260 92112 690 306 99613 659 289 94814 663 332 99515 645 305 95016 217 162 37917 203 153 35618 24 60 8419+ 2 7 9All ages 8,262 3,330 11,592

The majority of pupils with VI were in the age groups four to 15 years. Only 207 children aged three and under were recorded as having VI as their primary SEN. This low figure may reflect the fact that much specialist support for babies and very young children with VI is provided in a home setting.

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Table 10: Number of pupils with VI as their primary (main) SEN by national curriculum year group and type of SEN support in 2016Year group SEN support EHCP or statement AllNursery years 1 and 2 182 26 208Reception 458 127 5851 592 167 7592 670 192 8623 665 205 8704 689 207 8965 624 271 8956 623 268 8917 659 254 9138 688 311 9999 660 296 95610 665 324 98911 644 316 96012 and above 443 364 807NC not followed 0 2 2Total 8,262 3,330 11,592

3.1.4 Ethic group and first languageAs detailed in table 11, three quarters (74.8%) of pupils with VI were of White background, most of whom were White British. Around one in seven (14.4%) were from an Asian ethnic group, with most coming from a Pakistani background. Around one in 25 (4%) were from a Black background with the same proportion (4.3%) of Mixed ethnic background.

Just over a quarter (27.2%) of pupils from a White background had an EHCP, compared to 37.8% of pupils of Asian origin and 36% of all ethnic minority pupils.

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Table 11: Pupils with VI as their primary (main) SEN by ethnic group and type of SEN support in 2016Ethnic group SEN

supportEHCP or statement

All VI (number)

All %

White 5,882 2,194 8,076 74.8%White British 5,560 2,037 7,597 70.3%Irish 20 9 29Traveller of Irish heritage 10 2 12Gypsy/Roma 34 9 43Any other White background 258 137 395Mixed 281 156 437 4.0%White and Black Caribbean 97 52 149White and Black African 21 12 33White and Asian 61 36 97Any other mixed background 102 56 158Asian 967 588 1,555 14.4%Indian 152 98 250Pakistani 612 375 987Bangladeshi 122 72 194Any other Asian background 81 43 124Black 313 151 464 4.3%Black Caribbean 78 33 111Black African 197 103 300Any other Black background 38 15 53Chinese 15 8 23 0.2%Any other ethnic group 86 54 140 1.3%Unclassified 79 30 109 1.0%All minority ethnic pupils* 1,984 1,114 3,098 28.7%All pupils 7,623 3,181 10,804 100%*All pupils classified as belonging to an ethnic group other than White British

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Table 12: Pupils with VI as their primary (main) SEN by ethnic group vs all pupils with SEN and all pupils in 2016Ethnic group All pupils

with VI%

All pupils with SEN%

All pupils%

White 74.8% 77.1% 75.6%White British 70.3% 71.4% 69.4%Mixed 4.0% 5.3% 5.2%Asian 14.4% 8.6% 10.5%Black 4.3% 6.2% 5.6%Chinese 0.2% 0.2% 0.4%Any other ethnic group 1.3% 1.6% 1.7%Unclassified 1.0% 1.0% 1.0%All minority ethnic pupils* 28.7% 27.6% 29.7%All pupils^ 100% 100% 100%*All pupils classified as belonging to an ethnic group other than White British^Only the figures in bold are counted for the percentage total in this column.

As can be seen from table 12, the proportion of pupils from an Asian background was higher in the VI group (14.4%) compared to all pupils with SEN (8.6%), and all pupils (with and without SEN) (10.5%).

Table 13: Pupils with VI as their primary (main) SEN, all other SEN and all pupils by first language in 2016Pupil group First language

other than English

First language English

First language unclassified

Total

VI 18.0% 81.8% 0.2% 100%All SEN 15.7% 84.1% 0.2% 100%All pupils* 18.0% 81.8% 0.2% 100%*Numbers in pupil referral units have been excluded to make the data more comparable with SEN statistics.

Just under 82% of pupils with VI spoke English as their first language, which was the same proportion as for all pupils.

3.2 School information

As shown in table 14, only 769 pupils with VI as their primary SEN (6.6%) attended special schools compared with 9.5% of all pupils with SEN who attended special schools. This figure is perhaps, not surprising, as we know that 72% of pupils whose primary SEN was VI had no secondary SEN recorded (see section 2.1 and table 2 in this report).

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Table 14: Type of school attended by pupils with VI as their primary (main) SEN in 2016Type of school* VI pupils

(number)VI pupils%

All pupils with SEN (number)

All pupils with SEN%

Primary 5,618 48.5% 619,094 54.6%Secondary 5,205 44.9% 406,431 35.9%Special 769 6.6% 107,382 9.5%Total 11,592 100% 1,132,907 100%*State funded primary and secondary schools including city technology colleges, university technology colleges, studio schools, academies and free schools. Also all special schools. Excludes pupil referral units, general hospital schools, independent schools and nursery schools.

Table 15: Special schools with approved provision for pupils with VI in 2016Type of school* Number of

schools%

State funded special schools 358 96.2%Non-maintained special schools 14 3.8%Total 372 100%*A school may be approved for more than one type of provision

In 2016, there were 372 special schools in England with approved provision for pupils with VI. Most were state funded schools – only one in 25 was in the non-maintained sector. The vast majority of these schools were designated for pupils with types of SEN other than VI.

3.3 Entitlement to free school meals

Just under a quarter (22.8%) of pupils with VI were eligible for and claiming free school meals (FSM). This is a higher proportion than the general population of pupils (14.3%), but lower than all pupils with SEN counted as a single group (27.2%).

Table 16: Entitlement to free school meals for pupils with VI in 2016Pupil group Number eligible for

and claiming FSM% eligible for and claiming FSM

Total

VI 2,643 22.8% 11,592All SEN 308,117 27.2% 1,132,907All pupils* 1,145,199 14.3% 8,008,385*Numbers in pupil referral units are included for all pupils but not for those with SEN or VI

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4. Discussion

The SEN statistics published by DfE provide valuable information about the characteristics and circumstances of pupils with VI in England. However, as discussed in the following section, there are also limitations to these statistics, which policy makers and commissioners need to be aware of when planning services for children and young people with VI.

4.1 Publication of primary (main) and secondary SEN data

Most of the SEN data published by DfE apply only to children and young people by their primary (i.e. main) SEN group. By publishing details of pupils with a secondary SEN recorded, DfE has identified a further 5,109 children and young people with VI in 2016.

However, the overall number of 16,701 pupils with VI as their primary or secondary SEN that is recorded in the DfE statistics is still almost 10,000 fewer than the 26,067 that were identified by RNIB as on the caseloads of, or known to, VI services in England in 2015 (Keil, 2016).

4.1.2 Primary and secondary SEN data: additional SENThe DfE statistics that include secondary as well as primary SEN data, also show that half of the pupils with VI on ‘SEN support’ or with a statement or EHCP had another SEN in addition to their VI. This is consistent with other sources of information about the population of children and young people with VI such as RNIB surveys of local authority VI education advisory services and the Millennium Cohort surveys (Harris et al, 2013; 2014). In contrast, just over a quarter (28%) of the 11,592 pupils pupils whose primary SEN was VI were recorded in the DfE statistics as having another SEN in addition to their VI.

4.1.3 Primary and secondary SEN data: type of supportOf the 11,592 pupils whose primary SEN was VI, just under three in ten (28.7%) had an EHCP or statement while the majority (71.3%) were on ‘SEN support’. The additional information about pupils’ secondary SEN shows that over two thirds (68.8%) of pupils with VI who had an EHCP/statement had another SEN in addition to their VI. Conversely, most pupils with VI on ‘SEN support’ had no additional SEN recorded. This suggests that in order to have an EHCP or statement a pupil with VI would need to have an additional SEN. Put another way, a pupil with VI would be more likely to have a statement or EHCP if s/he had an additional SEN.

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4.2 Publication of primary SEN data

Most of the SEN statistics published by DfE (and which are reported in section 3 of this briefing) apply only to the primary SEN groups. This means that over 5,000 pupils with VI (as their secondary SEN) are excluded from most of the published statistics.

4.2.1 Primary SEN data: pupils with VI by age groupOnly 207 children aged three and under were recorded as having VI as their primary SEN in 2016. This low figure may reflect the fact that much specialist support for babies and very young children with VI is provided in a home setting. Nevertheless, the official data significantly under-represent the number of early years children with VI. If we include four-year old children/Reception and under, there are fewer than 800 children with VI recorded in the DfE statistics compared with nearly 4,000 aged four and below who were on VI service caseloads in 2015 (Keil, 2016).

4.2.2 Primary SEN data: school placementThe school placement data are another illustration of the limitation of presenting primary (main) SEN data only; or, at least, of over-relying on this data for service planning. We know that if secondary SEN data are included, 50% of pupils with VI are recorded as having additional SEN. However, only 769 pupils whose primary SEN was VI, were recorded as attending special schools in England. Clearly, the actual number of pupils with VI in special schools (i.e. those with VI as their primary or their secondary SEN) is much higher. We know from table 2 in this briefing that nearly 2,000 pupils with VI were recorded as also having SLD or PMLD, most of whom are likely to attend special rather than mainstream schools. We also see from table 15 that 372 special schools in England had approved provision for pupils with VI and 769 seems a small number of pupils to be divided between this many schools, even accounting for the fact that the vast majority of these schools were designated for pupils with types of SEN other than VI.

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5. Conclusion

While the SEN statistics published by DfE provide valuable information about the characteristics and circumstances of pupils with VI in England, there are also limitations to this data which policy makers, commissioners and service providers need to be aware of.

Firstly, even when secondary SEN data are included in the official statistics, they still under-represent the number of pupils with VI who are supported by local authority specialist education services for children and young people with sensory impairment.

Secondly, most of the published data apply only to pupils whose primary (main) SEN is VI. Only 28% of this population has additional SEN, while the true proportion of pupils with VI and additional SEN is around 50% (as reflected in the official statistics when secondary SEN data are included).

Local authorities that use the published data to benchmark their own data (e.g. on pupil attainment) should therefore exercise caution when using the published data on pupils whose primary SEN is VI. This is because it is probable that VI/sensory service caseloads will include a higher proportion of children and young people with additional SEN than are reflected in the DfE published statistics – around 50% compared to 28% - and the two populations are therefore not directly comparable.

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References

DfE (21 July, 2016) Special educational needs in England: January 2016 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2016

Harris J, Keil S, Lord C and McManus S (2013) Sight impaired at age seven: secondary analysis of the Millennium Cohort Survey. RLSB, RNIB and NatCen

Harris J, Keil S, Lord C and Lloyd C (2014) Sight impairment at age eleven: secondary analysis of the Millennium Cohort Survey. RLSB, RNIB and NatCen. http://www.rnib.org.uk/knowledge-and-research-hub/research-reports/education-research/sight-impaired-7

Keil (2016) Freedom of Information (FOI) questions on local authority education provision for children and young people with vision impairment in England: 2015. RNIB http://www.rnib.org.uk/knowledge-and-research-hub-research-reports-education-research/vi-service-provision-2015

END

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