Written question WQ96805
- Asked by
- Natasha AsgharConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Education
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 12 days
Question
Will the Cabinet Secretary provide a breakdown of the number of ALN pupils who have been referred to independent schools by Welsh local authorities in the years 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Education
Welsh Government does not currently have data on the number of pupils with Additional Learning Needs (ALN) attending independent schools. Information up to 2024 for independent schools under the old special Educational Needs (SEN) system is published on Stats Wales.
The independent schools data collection conducted in January 2025 was updated to include ALN data on pupils with local authority maintained Individual Development Plans in line with Independent Schools Regulations 2024. This data will be published on 23 July. The information collected includes the number of pupils with local authority maintained Individual Development Plans (IDP) or statements by type of need, the total number of pupils with a local authority maintained IDP as well as the total number with a SEN statement.
I will write to you with this ALN data after publication. It should be noted that figures between the old SEN and new ALN system are not comparable.
We do not collect data centrally on the number of pupils referred to independent schools by local authorities.