What individual, family, and school factors influence the identification of special educational needs in Wales?

Previous national and international research has investigated potential patterns of SEN identification, in which there may be overrepresentation of males, individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and pupils attending schools in economically disadvantaged areas.

The aim of the current study is to link administrative education data for the academic year 2011/12 to data from the UK 2011 Census to explore which individual, family and school characteristics are associated with SEN identification.

The analysis sample consists of 284,010 pupils attending schools in Wales in 2011/12 linked to household data from the UK 2011 Census.

Multilevel models were used to estimate the association between individual, family and school characteristics with SEN identification. Further models examined how these factors influence four areas of SEN needs: cognition and learning; communication and interaction; physical and/or sensory; and behavioural, emotional and social development.

Results suggest that aspects of a child's individual and family environment are associated with SEN identification. In particular, males, pupils reported as White ethnicity, pupils who were persistently absent, pupils from households with lower parental education, parental economic inactivity, and lower household social grades have an increased likelihood of SEN identification.

This study emphasizes the importance of considering the environmental context (family and school) of the child in addition to child characteristics for a more accurate and holistic understanding of a child's needs. This research can inform the development of more inclusive and effective support strategies under the new Additional Learning Needs framework in Wales.