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Children, young people and families in Kent are seeing improvements to SEND services, but their experiences are still not consistent across the county, according to the latest inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The inspection recognises significant progress in several areas that matter to children and families, including improvements in the quality of newer Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), more inclusive support in schools, better joined-up working between services, and earlier help for some children and young people. Inspectors found evidence that these changes, together with stronger partnership working and a growing focus on support based on need rather than diagnosis are beginning to have a positive impact on the experiences of children, young people and families. They also found that strategic leadership is addressing many of the historic weaknesses identified in previous inspections.

However, the report also highlights variation in support (particularly for those learners who joined the system before improvements were made), delays in accessing some services, communication that is not always effective and inconsistencies in how well children and young people are prepared for adulthood.

KCC, NHS Kent and Medway and wider partners had already identified these many of these areas as priorities for improvement before the inspection began and shared the work already underway to address them. All partners agree with the findings and remain committed to delivering further improvements for children and families.

Beverley Fordham, KCC's Cabinet Member for Education and SEND, said: "For some families, the findings in this report will feel familiar. We know that not every child and young person is getting the experience they should when they need support, and we understand how frustrating that can be for parents and carers.

“But for the first time in many years, KCC is no longer systemically failing children and families with SEND.

"The report provides a fair assessment of where we are. It's encouraging that inspectors have recognised the improvements made across Kent's SEND services, but we know there is more to do.

"Our focus now is making sure those improvements are felt consistently by every child, young person and family across Kent. We know some families have not yet experienced the progress identified by inspectors, and that's why we remain determined to keep improving services and support."

The findings follow several years of improvement work by KCC, NHS Kent and Medway, schools and wider partners to strengthen support for children and young people with SEND.

Following a SEND inspection in 2019 and a revisit inspection in 2022, an Improvement Notice was issued to the Kent local area partnership in 2023. The notice was lifted in 2024 after significant progress was evidenced to the Department for Education across a range of improvement areas.

In the latest inspection report for Kent, inspectors recognised a number of strengths, including stronger partnership working across education, health and care services, stronger leadership and oversight, better quality newer EHCPs, investment in workforce development, greater focus on inclusion and strengthened co-production with families.

The report also highlights improvements in how education, health and care services work together to support children and young people, including a growing focus on providing support based on need rather than waiting for a diagnosis.

Inspectors identified Kent's Dynamic Support Register as an example of effective multi-agency working, helping identify and support children and young people who are at risk of admission to hospital or placement breakdown.

At the same time, inspectors identified areas where further improvement is needed, including reducing delays in accessing some services, improving consistency of support across the county, strengthening communication with families, improving preparation for adulthood, ensuring leaders have a clearer understanding of service impact, and improving support for children and young people awaiting specialist assessments. Inspectors also highlighted the need to ensure families receive a more consistent experience regardless of where they live in Kent.

Jennie Hall,  Chief Nursing, Experience and Quality Officer at NHS Kent and Medway, said: “We welcome the report's recognition of stronger leadership, needs-led support and partnership working. We also recognise that families do not yet experience consistently timely and equitable support. Working with our partners, we are committed to improving data and oversight, reducing delays and variation, and strengthening co-production and preparation for adulthood.

“Work is already underway to address the recommendations and update our strategic plans. We will build on the progress already made and remain focused on delivering better, more consistent outcomes for children and young people with SEND and their families.”

Now that this inspection has taken place, all additional monitoring, including the Accelerated Progress Plan, will come to a close. The local area will now finalise a 'Local Area Strategic Plan' which will focus on the six areas identified by inspectors:

• ensuring leaders have a clearer understanding of the impact of services and interventions on the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND
• improving the quality, timeliness and oversight of Education, Health and Care Plans that are a part of annual reviews
• strengthening communication, engagement and co-production with children, young people, families and education providers
• reducing variation and improving consistency of support across the county
• improving preparation for adulthood and helping more young people with SEN support status to achieve positive next steps into education, employment and independent living
• ensuring improvements are embedded and experienced consistently by children, young people and families

Read the full report.