Insight SEN2 Cohort

You will need the relevant privileges to view this page; a user can have privileges to view the page and separately to view child-level data on the page. Please note that SEN2 permissions need to be switched on for all current users by the LA Nexus admin. Once the permission has been given, the user will need to log out and back in again to see the SEN2 functionality in Nexus.

The Insight SEN2 Cohort page provides contextual information on your LA's SEN2 cohort, from pupil and school census characteristics to SEN2 characteristics, absence, exclusions and prior attainment.

Select Insight > Cohorts > SEN2 Cohort to load the page with a set of default filters; many variations of filters can be applied to the entire page allowing for specific insights into the SEN2 cohort.

SEN2 Cohort Filters

If you change filter values on the page, you must click 'apply' for those changes to be reflected; you can click 'reset' to revert to the default filters at any time.

Export CSV

This export includes all children in your SEN2 cohort by default, but any filters applied to the page will also apply to the export.

Note: If you apply a Phase filter or a Pupil Group filter, then the export will not contain children who do not have a school census record from a school in your LA.

Academic Year

The latest three academic years will usually be available on a Cohort Page; however, as the child-level SEN2 census was a new data collection in 2023 this will take time to build. From 2025, the SEN2 Cohort Page will show three academic years on this drop-down.

Cohort

This filter allows you to select the SEN2 (LA imported) option, but when SEN2 NPD data is received from the DfE, this will also be available. SEN2 NPD data is expected to be available from late 2024/25 for both 2023 and 2024.

SEN2 Group

• All - all children that appear in your SEN2 census for any reason. This will be the default on this filter when the cohort page is opened.
• New SEN2 (all) - all children who have a new activity during the year; request, assessment, or EHCP.
• Closed SEN2 (all) - all children who have a closed request, assessment or EHCP in the year and no further service was provided (i.e. assessment was closed, only those that did not result in an EHCP are counted).
• SEN2 at Census Day (EHCP only) - all children with an open EHCP on census day. Please note this option has been updated to EHCP only as requested by LAs. 
• New SEN2 (EHCP only) - all children who have new activity during the year - limited to EHCP
• Closed SEN2 (EHCP only) - all children who have a closed EHCP in the year

School Type

• All - all children in the SEN2 census.
• Mainstream - all children who attend mainstream LA or academy schools.
• Special - all children who attend special LA or academy schools.
• AP/PRU - all children who attend alternative provision or pupil referral units.
• Other - all children who attend other educational establishments not listed in this filter.
• FE Colleges - all young people who attend further education colleges.
• NEET - all children and young people not in education, employment or training.

Phase (NC Year)

Phases are determined by matching to a spring school census record where it is available but will also use the child's date of birth as returned in the SEN2 census where a school census record is not available. NCY X is used where CBDS National Curriculum is not followed - this is available only for special schools where pupils are not following a particular NC year.

School Census Characteristic

A range of filter options is available from the matched school census data (except sex, which is obtained from the SEN2 data). 

Age

The age filter has been provided for users as, unlike the other cohort pages, a child in the SEN2 data may not be in the expected chronological NCY. This filter will allow users to view analysis by age or age group. Please note, age is calculated as at 31st August of the academic year being viewed (i.e. 2023 SEN2 data will show age calculated at 31st August 2023).

SEN2 Characteristic

• All - all pupils in the SEN2 data.
• Educated in LA - all pupils educated within the local authority.
• Educated out LA - all pupils educated in a different local authority that completed the SEN2 return.
• Attendance - FT - pupils who attend education provision full time.
• Attendance - PT - pupils who attend education provision part-time.
• SEN Unit - Yes - pupils who attend a SEN unit.
• SEN Unit - No - pupils who do not attend a SEN unit.
• Resourced Provision - Yes - pupils who attend a resourced provision.
• Resourced Provision - No - pupils who do not attend a resourced provision.

SEN2 Primary Need

Users can choose to filter the page by one of the SEN2 primary needs. Only single select is available.

Comparator

This filter allows users to choose between national or regional comparator analysis on the page.

Child Characteristics

Sex and NC Year / Age charts include all of your SEN2 cohort as they do not rely on a match to another dataset to be populated. 

While NC Year will be matched on the school census where available, the system will infer a child's NC Year based on the date of birth available on the SEN2 census where a match to the school census is unsuccessful. NCY X is used where CBDS National Curriculum is not followed - this is available only for special schools where pupils are not following a particular NC year. Please note, age is calculated as at 31st August of the academic year being viewed (i.e. 2023 SEN2 data will show age calculated at 31st August 2023).

If you see the hand when hovering over a chart, it means you can click to view a list of children that make up the displayed figure. 

Unmatched School Aged Children

This chart shows how many children are not matched to a school census or prior attainment record. 

School Census - The system will attempt to match each child in your SEN2 cohort to a school census record; this match is done using their UPN, DOB, and Sex. The child will be included in the chart and export if a match cannot be made.

Prior Attainment

The system will attempt to match each child in your SEN2 cohort to a prior attainment record; this match is done using their UPN, DOB, Sex and NC Year.

A child's NC Year will determine what prior attainment they are expected to have; if they have no NC Year as they are not matched to census, the NC Year will be inferred from their date of birth. NCY X is used where CBDS National Curriculum is not followed - this is available only for special schools where pupils are not following a particular NC year.

The following will detail what prior attainment is expected for a child given their NC Year; all children but those in NC Year 2 will only be in one prior attainment group.

• EYFSP - a child who is NC Year 1 or NC Year 2
• Y1 Phonics - a child who is NC Year 2
• KS1 - a child in NC Years 3-6
• KS2 - a child in NC Years 7-11
• KS4 - a child in NC Years 12 and above (this will include those who are no longer of school age).

Ofsted

This chart tells you the Ofsted ratings of all education establishments attended by SEN2 pupils. Some users may be familiar with this chart from the School Census page; however, on the SEN2 page, two further categories have been added - not inspected and no inspection applicable.

• Not inspected - the children in this category attend education provision that is due to have an Ofsted inspection, but this has not happened yet.
• No inspection applicable - the children in this category attend education provision not subject to Ofsted inspections.

SEN2 Characteristics

The majority of charts in this section will respond to the drop-down at the top of the section as they display a rate per 10,000 children in your LA; this rate is calculated using national census data collected every ten years and available on the ONS website - ONS Population Statistics.

Rate of Children - When calculating a rate per 10,000 children in your LA, a distinct number of children returned in your SEN2 census is used.

Rate of Total Count - When calculating a rate per 10,000 children in your LA, a total count of records in your SEN2 census is used when there is more than one per child.

Initial Requests for Assessment

This chart shows all initial requests for assessment throughout the SEN2 reporting period. The second chart shows the proportion of those initial requests for assessment received that had outcomes recorded within 6 weeks. Although feedback has shown that some LAs do not prioritise this deadline, it is a statutory deadline so NCER decided to include it in this page of analysis.

Assessments Completed

This chart shows all assessments completed throughout the SEN2 reporting period. The second chart shows the proportion of those assessments that had outcomes recorded within 16 weeks. Although feedback has shown that some LAs do not prioritise this deadline, it is a statutory deadline, so NCER decided to include it in this page of analysis.

EHC Plans

This chart shows the total rate of EHC plans active at any point in the year. Further detail of the total number of EHC plans is given in the text; this includes the number that started during the reporting year, the number that ended and the number that remained open from the previous year. From the total number of EHC plans that were open during the reporting year, users can see the rate issued within 20 weeks, and below that can be seen the rate issued within 20 weeks, excluding exceptions. DfE provides detailed guidance on what the exceptions are, but in brief, they include reasons due to school or SEN provision being closed for more than four weeks, exceptional personal circumstances affecting the child / parent / young person or one of those three people are absent from the LA area for more than four weeks.

Mediation and Tribunals

There is a chart each for mediations and tribunals. The charts and text will give users information on the mediations and tribunals recorded in their SEN2 return. Please note the 'other' category records whether or not the assessment was referred for mediation or tribunal for any reason other than the decision not to assess or the decision not to issue a plan. This includes mediation with respect to the content of the plan.

Pupil Groups

This chart allows users to review the analysis in more detail. First, the indicator should be chosen from the first drop-down; there are 7 options to choose from. Next, the user has two further drop-downs to choose options; the primary row drop-down and the secondary row drop-down. Please note, even though the lists of options are the same in both of these drop-downs, users cannot choose the same option at the same time in both drop-downs (if chosen in one drop-down, it will disappear from the other). To see the full analysis, including secondary rows, the user must click on the grey arrows on the far left side of the chart.

Users should also note the icons next to the cohort counts in the centre of the chart - this will show if the chart is showing ‘rate of children’  or ‘rate of total count’  selected from the drop-down at the top of the ‘SEN2 Characteristics’ section (next to the section title).

Clicking on the bars in the bar charts will allow the user to see the breakdown pop-up screen to see further information about who is included in the cohort, as well as the ‘export’ button to export the information out of Nexus.

The performance indicators that users can choose from in the 'choose indicator' drop-down are:

• Initial requests for assessment - this will include all initial requests for assessment. Choose from the 'rate of total children' or 'rate of total count' from the top of the section to choose if this data will include all children or all requests.
• Request refused - the chart will show all requests refused for assessment based on your choice of all children who were refused or all requests refused.
• Refused after assessment - the chart will show all assessments that were refused; this will be based on your choice of all children who were refused or all assessments refused.
• EHC Plans issued in the year - the chart will show all EHC plans issued during the SEN2 reporting year. Remember to choose if you want to see total count or total children.
• EHCP issued within 20 wks - the chart will show all EHC plans issued during the SEN2 reporting year that were issued within the 20-week deadline. Remember to choose if you want to see total count or total number of children.
• EHC Plans issued within 30 wks - the chart will show all EHC plans issued during the SEN2 reporting year that were issued within 30 weeks. Remember to choose if you want to see total count or total children.
• EHCP Total - the chart will show all EHC plans that have been active at any point during the SEN2 reporting year. Remember to choose if you want to see total count or total number of children.

SEN2 Details

The charts in this section will include all data returned in the SEN2 census; there are no exclusions of children based on date.

All of the charts in this section are also based on a percentage of total children in your cohort and not a rate of children in your LA.

SEN2 Details Charts

Primary Need Type - This graph shows a breakdown of your whole SEN2 cohort by primary need type. There is a flip to show the same chart for the secondary need type.

Agreed School Attendance - A chart to show the proportion of the SEN2 cohort that have agreed school attendance of full time. The flip of this chart shows a breakdown of the school type the full-time pupils are attending.

NEET - not in education, employment or training. This chart shows the proportion of the SEN2 cohort recorded as NEET.

Attending Resourced Provision - This chart shows the proportion of children within the SEN2 return as attending resourced provision and/or designated specialised provision.

Attending SEN Unit - This chart shows the proportion of children within the SEN2 cohort who are attending a SEN Unit.

Personal Budget - This chart shows how many children in the SEN2 cohort receive a personal budget. There is a flip to show the breakdown of the budget these children are receiving as recorded in the SEN2 return.

Education Establishment Type - This chart shows the education establishment attended by pupils in the SEN2 return, using the same categories as the DfE SFR publication. Please note 'educated elsewhere' includes the codes 'OPA' and 'EHE', and 'other' includes the codes 'NIEC' and 'NIEO'.

SEN2 Cohort Absence and Exclusions

This section of the page will utilise the absence and exclusions information returned in the school census and present that to you in several ways. Like other sections, you can flip the cards to view more information; in this instance, you can view absence and exclusions reason breakdowns. As persistent absence is a percentage of children, this card will not flip, but you can click the LA bar to view those children.

SEN2 Cohort Prior Attainment

The prior attainment section has its own page filter; the available values in this filter will be determined by the selection made on the main page filters.

If you choose primary, for instance in the main page phase filter, you can only select from primary NC years and key stages in this filter.

The expected prior attainment based on the NC Year is listed below:

• EYFSP - a child who is NC Year 1 or NC Year 2
• Y1 Phonics - a child who is NC Year 2
• KS1 - a child in NC Years 3-6
• KS2 - a child in NC Years 7-11
• KS4 - a child in NC Years 12 and above (this will include those who are no longer of school age).