The point when a child with special educational needs (SEN) is diagnosed is an important moment in their lives.
It allows schools to provide them with access to additional resources, such as assistive technology, specialised teaching programs or the services of professionals such as educational psychologists. These resources help to meet children’s academic, emotional or social needs.
But girls and boys don’t fare equally. My recent research with colleague Hsin Wang, conducted using UK government data, found a consistent gender gap in SEN identification.
Of the roughly 1.5 million children in English schools identified for SEN services in 2022-23, only 0.5 million were girls. We found the same pattern across the country, with girls making up between 34% to 36% of all students accessing SEN support in most regions.
