Quantifying the Impact of Special Needs Identification in Wales, UK

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Improving Special Education Evaluation and Identification Through an Interdisciplinary Approach (Table 36)

Abstract

The number of school-age children identified as having a special educational need (SEN) is growing, with one in five pupils in Wales, UK, currently identified as SEN (StatsWales, 2021). There are calls from researchers and practitioners for the early identification of SEN to better support children who require support. This research project uses linked administrative data from the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank to understand how individual and school-level factors contribute to i) the identification of SEN, and ii) how being identified with SEN impacts learners’ academic progression compared to peers without SEN. This research is conducted in the context of education system-level reforms in Wales offering a national-level case study on SEN identification and cognate policy areas.

Authors

• Cathryn Knight, University of Bristol

• Emily Lowthian, Swansea University

• Tom Crick, Swansea University

• Carys Jones, Swansea University

• Sarah Rees, Swansea University

• Anna Rawlings, Swansea University