The 2023/2024 Ofsted Annual Report comes at a time of change.

We get one of these reports every year, and their in-depth demographic analysis of learners, resources and skills is vital for developing our understanding of the education sector's general health.

However, this year’s Ofsted Annual Report is unique in that it has some companion material in the results of Ofsted’s Big Listen consultation.

The Big Listen was the largest public consultation in Ofsted’s history. Designed to evolve the body toward greater empathy, more adequate teacher support, and more equal and constructive relationships with schools, it collated over 20,000 responses from parents, students, teachers, and Ofsted staff and set out frameworks for change. Those responses discussed SEND extensively, and we’re set to see quite a few changes as a result.

So the Annual Report and The Big Listen are vital counterparts: by collating Ofsted’s findings across the two, we can foster a much deeper understanding of the changes we might see and where we likely need to focus our attention and resources in 2025 as the educators who make it all happen.

So what did Ofsted Big Listen results say about SEND?

There’s a huge call for change: concerns about educator wellbeing, student wellbeing and the effectiveness of current inspection methodologies predominate the results, and the SEND sector is no exception.

➡️ Respondents expressed widespread dissatisfaction with the current inspection system, questioning whether it effectively addressed the needs of SEN pupils.

➡️ They also raised questions about whether many gaps in provision were correctly ascribed to funding, resourcing and third-party services challenges, rather than the settings themselves.

➡️ Children and young people put an incredibly high value on SEND support. These groups rated access to SEN support as one of their top 5 issues, with similar priority to ‘how happy learners were at school’ and ‘how schools kept their pupils safe and well’.

➡️ Parent respondents wanted Ofsted inspectors working in specialist and AP schools to have relevant experience of learners in these settings.

➡️ They also want SEND and AP setting reports to pay more attention to individual pupil starting points and final grades, as opposed to final grades on a scale of national average. They also request renewed attention to the mental health and wellbeing of students.

There’s a more in-depth discussion of the relevant concerns made public in the Ofsted Big Listen results available at The British Dyslexia Association.

Wait. Am I likely to see changes in my classroom off the back of this?

Yes: you can read about changes to inspections in full here.

But the nature of the changes you’ll see in 2025 will depend on the kind of setting you’re teaching in. The biggest point of note is that across the board, Ofsted has committed to ending single-word judgements and replacing them with a ‘report card’, which will include a greater focus on inclusion. So we’re expecting a lot more attention SEND in future inspections— and whilst most teachers tend not to necessarily relish the inspection period, raising the profile of SEND and student access needs is a move that’s being celebrated across the educator community.

Ofsted have also also committed to reducing the burden of inspection on education providers and increasing notice periods, which is likely to come as a relief to many working in the sector.

Some additional changes are set to happen in independent, specialist and AP settings.

Back to the Ofsted Annual Report. What did that say about SEND?

As ever, the Ofsted Annual report covers a lot of ground – you can read the full version at GOV, but for us, there are several key areas of information about SEND that are worth highlighting.

The biggest takeaway is that addressing disparities in educational outcomes for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups remains challenging, and boosting inclusion for groups like SEND learners is a focus across the board. But whilst the education sector has always been defined by a degree of under-resourcing, the 2023/2024 report’s focus on inequalities demonstrates just how deeply these provision concerns run even after the new funding allocations made in Labour’s first budget last year.

On SEND and EHCPs

The Ofsted Annual Report acknowledges that the SEND system is under huge strain as the number of students with an identified need continues to grow. There has been a reported 140% increase in the number of students with Education, Health and Care Plans (ECHPs) being educated in mainstream school settings.

But,following on from a record number of EHCP rejections in 2024, the report also states that it is “right to consider demand as well as supply”, and that “not all children with an identified need will (or should) receive an EHCP.” It advises that as a sector, we look collectively at the early interventions that can be made for students in early years and in Key Stage 1 to stop needs from escalating, and becoming entrenched in a way that impacts learning progress permanently.

A final note on SEND from the Ofsted Annual Report is that it does acknowledge the Department for Education’s SEND Code of Practice recommendation that all schools have a qualified teacher designated as a SENDCo, adding that “[…]making sure this arrangement is uniformly in place could make a big difference for a lot of children.” But it highlights that there are also wide-scale recruitment challenges for SEND education too, as well as in the retention of current professionals – so it remains to be seen how far this recommendation from the SEND Code of Practice can be implemented on this front in a national way should those personnel deficits persist. 

Other SEND points of note in the Annual Report 

There are two further key points of note for anyone working in SEND – one on AP, and one on apprenticeship access.

The report notes that in too many cases, alternative provision is used to fill these gaps in SEND provision: almost 25% of children in a school-arranged AP placement have an EHCP. And whilst AP “can and does play an important role for children who, for many different reasons, are not able to attend mainstream schools… it should be viewed as a fixed-term intervention and not a long-term solution.”

On apprenticeships, the Ofsted Annual Report does note that learners with SEND moving from a school environment to an FE and skills one continue to need support to access opportunities that will translate into employment. That’s vital: we know that young people with SEND are less likely than their peers to be in education, employment or training post-16, so making sure that they have open access to FE and the support to excel there is paramount if we’re to break the relationship between SEND and NEET status.

How does the Ofsted Annual Report line up with the reforms set out in The Big Listen?

“If you get it right for the most vulnerable [learners], you get it right for everyone.”

-         Sir Martyn Oliver

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector

Ofsted Annual Report 2023/2024

The inspection and reporting changes prompted by the Big Listen mean that we’ll very likely develop a better national picture of SEND in the coming months and years. The Ofsted Annual Report indicates that we may not necessarily like what we find there.

We’re looking at a sector where all the available information points to a terminal under-resourcing that, despite the vital efforts of the educators who work with them every day, is going to impact the futures of many SEND learners. We now have more EHCPs than ever before, and learners with identified SEND needs without EHCPs than ever before: that’s a problem when schools are currently experiencing the cost-of-living crisis as a cost-of-learning crisis, and we simply don’t have the recruitment-retention power in the SEND sector to resource anywhere near the amount of learning support specialists that schools need. This pushes an element of strain onto an already over-extended AP sector, leaves some learners without support, and has the potential to compromise the futures of millions of students.

While greater inspection attention to SEND and inclusion is largely welcomed as much needed, it is unlikely to reveal a rosy picture. Coupled with these resourcing issues in the sector, it looks like educators will need to do a lot more plate-spinning to implement those early interventions that the report defines as key to reducing EHCP numbers, and alleviating some of the strain on the system going upwards, outwards and into AP, especially if SEND numbers continue to rise.

We’re at the intersection of a number of crucial journeys in 2025: Ofsted’s realignment, a government push for stronger SEND provision, and far longer ongoing conversations about teacher bandwidth, retention and funding. We’ve got a steep slope before us on all sides… but luckily, we live in an era where technology can step up to support teachers like never before.

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One of the most prevalent types of special educational need or disability in the UK is literacy needs, like dyslexia.

And even when learners have other kinds of SEND, literacy is still the key that unlocks the whole curriculum. Without strong, well-supported literacy skills, England’s 1.6 million students with special educational needs and disabilities often struggle to find their learning rhythm, truly engage with their subjects, and achieve the grades they need to succeed – especially when neurodiversities like dyslexia are in play.

An increased Ofsted focus on SEND provision will help us foster a better understanding of those learning journeys where we need to provide support for neurodiversities and additional needs. But especially when SEND students’ pandemic learning loss is so pronounced compared to their peers, that extra scrutiny might feel like extra pressure on those whose job it is to resource provision.

But assistive technology like C-Pen Reader 3 can provide constant, dependable support and lift whole classrooms into a new era of reading confidence, creating a learning future in which teachers never have to worry about learners with additional needs ever getting left behind. That’s why every function it provides – from lightning-fast text-to-speech (TTS) to dictionary access, a practice mode and full accent and language customisation – is easier to navigate than a smartphone, and provides learners with a complete, dependable support system for reading.

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To find out more about Ofsted Big Listen results, what your sector highlighted and the changes we’re set to see, you can explore the consultation in full at the Hearing Feedback, Accepting Criticism and Building a Better OFSTED page at .GOV.

You can also read the Ofsted Annual Report 2023/2024 in full on the website.

…And if you’re interested in making powerful changes to your SEN provision this term, you can find out more about C-Pen Reader 3 at Scanning Pens. But if you’re feeling ready to implement more in-depth, dependable support for your struggling readers – or even just reclaim a little of your educator bandwidth – you can request your FREE 30-day educator trial of the C-Pen Reader 3 right here, and experience the reading magic for yourselves!