In the summer of 2014, the Department for Education (DfE) commissioned Isos Partnership to undertake research into SEN funding arrangements and practices. The aim of this research is to provide insights into the way funding for young people with SEN is spent and to discover the reasons for differences between spending trends in different local authorities.
By consulting with 13 local education areas around the UK, the researchers were able to work in-depth with parents and carers, schools, colleges, early years settings, local authorities and health services to come up with recommendations for government spending. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of how well the current SEN funding system has been working and suggests options for changing the ways in which high-needs funding is distributed in future.