Funding for pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in Early Years settings and Schools

For most children in maintained mainstream settings, schools, academies and free schools, education is funded from the setting or school’s own budget. This includes those with SEN.

Early Years Settings- Element 1/place funding (level 1a)

This is the money that is provided to an early years setting according to how many children there are and what ages they are (headcount funding). This pays for a curriculum which meets the needs of all children in the setting and a proportion of this should be spent on support for those with special educational needs (SEN).

Early Years Settings - Element 2 / SEN Support (level 1b and 1c)

For children who access free (funded) early education who are 2, 3 and 4, the setting through their SENCO, can apply for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Inclusion Funding (SENDIF. Parents are always involved and participate in this process, and will provide consent for this funding to be applied for. There are 2 levels of funding a setting can claim for depending on the child’s assessed needs. Level 1b is £2.55 per hour and level 1c is £7.80 for 2-year-olds. Level 1b is £2.80 per hour and level 1c is £10.50 for 3 and 4-year-olds. The setting must have a SEN plan in place which shows how the child’s needs will be met as well as having a plan for how the funding will be used.

Elements 1 and 2 enable settings to offer support for all children with SEN, including teaching support in small groups and individual work with those children who need it.

These resources are available to all children with special educational needs in mainstream settings whether or not they have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

Settings use this money to pay for additional SEN support for children according to their assessed needs

Early Years Settings Element 3 / Top - up

There are a small number of children whose needs are unusually complex and an individual plan is necessary to coordinate their support and/or they require more than the SENIF higher level of funding (Element 2).

In these cases, a request can be made for an assessment for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) by

  • the child’s parent
  • a person acting on behalf of a setting ideally with the knowledge and agreement of the parent or young person

Please be aware that Early Years settings, schools and colleges will be asked to prepare evidence to support a request for an assessment. There is a risk that the Local Authority will refuse the request if there has is not been enough time allowed for this information to be gathered, for example, if parents request an assessment without prior consultation with their child’s setting, school or college.

Which children will receive this funding, how much they should receive and for how long is normally decided by a decision-making group / panel whose members have experience and expertise in SEN and who work together in the best interests of the child.

If a request for an assessment for an EHCP is refused, your setting can still ask for advice and support from specialist services, such as the Early Years Early Intervention and inclusion team or Educational Psychology Service. Parents can contact the Merton Information, Advice and Support Service (MIASS), formally Parent Partnership in order to obtain further advice and information about this process.

If a request for an assessment for an EHCP is refused, your setting can still ask for advice.

Early Years Settings - Disability Access Fund

The Disability Access Fund (DAF) was introduced in April 2017 to support disabled children’s access to the entitlements for three and four year olds. Providers receive £910 per eligible children per year (form April 2024). The funds can be used, for example, to support providers in making reasonable adjustments to their settings.

Eligible children are those who are:

  • In receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
  • Children receiving Early Education and Childcare for two-year-olds (from April 2024)
  • Children receiving the universal 15 hours funded entitlement
  • Children receiving the extended 15 hours funded entitlement 

From September 2024 

  • Children receiveing working parent entitlement (from 9 months old) 

Children accessing this funding do not need to take up the full 15 hours per week, and four year olds in reception class in a primary school are not eligible for the funding.

Please note that only one claim per child per year can be made.

Early Years Pupil Premium

The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) gives early years providers additional funding to support disadvantaged three and four year old children.

The funding issued to providers is based on the number of children who meet the eligibility criteria.

Schools - Element 1 / Place funding

This is money provided for a school according to how many pupils there are in the school and what ages they are. This pays for a curriculum which meets the needs of all children in the school and a proportion of this should be spent on support for those with special educational needs (SEN).

Schools - Element 2 / SEN Support

This is the amount a school receives to fund additional SEN support. It is decided by a formula which includes a number of factors relating to social deprivation, prior levels of attainment and other ‘proxy’ indicators or predictors of the incidence of SEN in a school.

Elements 1 and 2 enable schools to offer support for all pupils with SEN, including teaching support in small groups and individual work with those pupils who need it.

These resources are available to all children with special educational needs in mainstream classes whether or not they have a Statement of Special Educational Need or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

Schools use this money to pay for additional SEN support for pupils according to their assessed needs up to a maximum of £6,000 per year for any individual pupil.

Merton Council has published a document called Support for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in Mainstream Schools, Colleges and Early Years Settings which gives examples and guidance around meeting the needs of pupils with SEN from elements 1 and 2 of schools funding. The link to this document is below.

Schools - Element 3 / Top-up

There are a small number of children whose needs are unusually complex and an individual plan is necessary to coordinate their support and/or they require more than £6,000 of additional SEN funding (Element 2).

In these cases, a request can be made for an assessment for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) by

  • the child’s parent
  • the young person over the age of 16 but under the age of 25 who the plan is for
  • a person acting on behalf of a school or post-16 institution with the knowledge and agreement of the parent or young person

Please be aware that Early Years settings, schools and colleges will be asked to prepare evidence to support a request for an assessment. There is a risk that the Local Authority will refuse the request if there has is not been enough time allowed for this information to be gathered, for example, if parents request an assessment without prior consultation with their child’s setting, school or college.

Which children will receive this funding, how much they should receive and for how long is normally decided by a decision-making group / panel whose members have experience and expertise in SEN and who work together in the best interests of the child.

If a request for an assessment for an EHCP is refused, your school can still ask for advice and support from specialist services, such as the Educational Psychology Service, the Language and Learning Service and Merton Autism Outreach Service.

Parents can contact Merton’s Information, Advice and Support Service (MIASS), formally Parent Partnership, in order to obtain further advice and information about this process.

The Pupil Premium

The Pupil Premium is additional funding given to schools so that they can support disadvantaged children and young people, and close the attainment gap between them and their peers.

The Pupil Premium is paid based on the amount of pupils at a school registered as eligible for free school meals in reception to Year 11, children who have ceased to be looked after by a local authority in England and Wales because of adoption, a special guardianship order, a child arrangements order or a residence order and for children in care.

Schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium allocated for FSM as they see fit and are responsible for how they use this funding to support pupils from low-income families. The virtual school oversee the Pupil Premium for children in care, working in partnership with carers, pupils, schools, social workers and other agencies

Funding for special units (additionally resourced provisions) and maintained special schools

Additionally Resourced Provisions in mainstream schools, maintained special schools, special academies or free schools receive funding of £10,000 per pupil on roll. Access to these placements is normally restricted to pupils with an EHCP. A list of Merton’s specialist schools or units can be found on the SEN Local Offer.

How will I know what level of funding my child is receiving?

Support for children with SEN in an Early Years setting, school or college is based on providing support quickly, but starting at a low level initially then changing or increasing support, if necessary, following regular reviews of progress against outcomes and short term targets.

This is described in the SEN Code of Practice 2015 as the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle. It ensures that robust documentation is available to both parents and professionals showing how support is planned, measured and adjusted for each child and what it aims to achieve.

Provision should be well documented and you and your child should be involved in agreeing outcomes and short term targets at least termly. Outcomes should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound). They should be easy to understand and it should be clear when they have been achieved.

If your child has an EHCP or SEN, the amount of provision they receive is set out in that plan. Sometimes it will refer to a specific banding level and/or an amount of funding. The actual provision to be funded with this money will be set out in section F of the plan or Part 2 of the statement.

Banding levels change each year but can be obtained at any time from Merton’s SEN Team.

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Page last reviewed: 05/03/2024

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