SEN information report: model and examples

Download and adapt our model SEN information report, or use our checklist to save yourself some time and help make sure you're compliant.

Last reviewed on 20 November 2023See updates

Ref: 45529

Statutory/mandatory for:

Maintained schools

Academies

Free schools

Contents

Understand your requirements
For trust leaders
Download our model information report
Use our checklist to update or write your own document
Examples from schools

The Department for Education (DfE) withdrew its guidance on statutory policies for schools and academy trusts on 7 March 2024.

Details of statutory policies have now been incorporated into the new governance guides for maintained schools and academies. Take a look at our summary of the new governance guides.

We’ve reached out to the DfE to clarify some of the detail on the statutory policy list in the new guides, and we will update our related articles with any updates in due course. Select ‘save for later’ at the top of this page to be notified when this article has been updated.

After receiving feedback from some of our experts, we decided to split up our SEN policy and our SEN information report. This means each can be more tailored to do its particular job: the SEN information report should be aimed at parents/carers, and needs to be really accessible, while the SEND policy is aimed at staff and is more process driven.

If you're still using our old format, don't worry. You're still meeting your statutory requirements, However, parents/carers might not find the document as useful as they could, so we recommend you consider switching to this new format when your policy next comes up for review.

Understand your requirements

You must publish a SEN information report on your website, explaining how you're implementing your SEN policy. Your governing board or proprietor must approve this report before it's published.

You should:

Update your report annually, and as soon as possible after any changes that occur during the year
Make sure the information in the report is easily accessible by young people and parents/carers, and is set out in clear, straightforward language
Make sure the information in the report accurately reflects current practice in your school – when Ofsted inspects your school, they will want to see that all the provision outlined in the report is being implemented
Involve pupils and their parents/carers in the writing and reviewing process - for example you could run consultation events to hear their experience of SEN support in your school and include that in the report

This applies to all schools except special schools established in hospitals.

This is explained in paragraphs 6.2, 6.79, 6.81 and the introduction to chapter 6 of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice. The special schools in hospitals exemption is set out in regulation 51 of the SEND Regulations 2014. For information on statutory policies see this DfE guidance.

Download our checklist below for a list of what you must include in your SEN information report.

For trust leaders

We recommend setting a trust-wide SEND policy but asking each of your individual academies to publish their own SEN information report. This is because the information report should be bespoke to the school.

Download our model information report

This model information report is designed for you to adapt to suit your school's context.

Model SEN information report

Approved by Forbes Solicitors, all of our model documents take account of relevant requirements and good practice. They are easy to adapt, will save you time and help you keep your school compliant.

For a model SEND policy, visit our other article.

You can find further model policies and complete policy support via our Policy Expert tool.

Use our checklist to update or write your own document

It explains what you need to include in the SEN information report.

If your document is different from ours, or you're writing your own and don't want to use our model, use the checklist below to make sure your document is compliant.

KeyDoc: SEN information report checklist

Examples from schools

Primary schools

St Christophers Academy, an academy in Central Bedfordshire
Worlingworth Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, a voluntary-controlled school in Suffolk (follow the drop-down menu from the ‘SEN Information Report’ block at the bottom of the red blocks menu on the left to see different parts of the report)

Secondary schools

St George's Catholic School an academy in Westminster
Sacred Heart High School, an academy in Hammersmith and Fulham (follow the drop-down menu for 'School policies' and see 'Curriculum Access and SEN Report')

Special schools

Mandeville School, a community special school in Ealing
Swanwick School and Sports College, a community special school in Derbyshire (use the 'Key info' tab for a dropdown menu to find 'SEN information report' and a list of different sections related to the report)