Thousands of pupils in England wrongly classified as special needs [belfasttelegraph.co.uk]
- Published: 14 September 2010
More than 700,000 children in England listed as having special educational needs would not need extra help if they had better teachers, a new report says today.
The study, from Ofsted, the education standards watchdog, says nearly half the schools in the country are classifying pupils as in need of extra support unnecessarily.
In one school, all the pupils at risk of failing to get their target grades at GCSE were listed as having special needs so they were given extra mentoring for the exams. Ofsted described the action as "inappropriate".
In all, 1.7 million children in England are identified as having special educational needs. The vast majority come from disadvantaged homes. In three per cent of cases (250,550), the need is obvious and acute, such as blindness or deafness, and they receive the help they need speedily.
Full Story: www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
