Hampshire Local Area Partnership vision

In Hampshire, we believe that SEND is everyone’s business, which means that everyone has a key role to play to ensure that all children and young people, and their families, receive the support they need. Our vision of what we would like SEND services to look like in Hampshire is:

“Children and young people with SEND in Hampshire are heard, safe and happy, able to learn in inclusive environments, access joined-up services, and progress to independent adult lives”

Our vision is to create a cohesive and effective system that supports all children and young people, ensuring they are valued, visible, and included in their communities.

Local context

Since 2016, Hampshire's total school population has increased by 4.7%, meaning there are now proportionally more pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or receiving SEN Support:

  • 7.4% of the 0-16 population have an EHCP ( a rise of 1% compared to 2025)
  • 14.6% of the 0-16 population receive SEN Support ( a rise of 0.4% compared to 2025)
  • Pupils with an EHCP account for an increasing proportion of pupils with SEND, representing 33.6% of pupils in 2026, up from 19.6% in 2016.

There are over 21,000 EHCPs across the 0-25 population in Hampshire. This represents a 15.3% increase in EHCPs compared to 2024/25 (there has been a 12.5% increase nationally).

43.8% of children and young people with an EHCP are educated in mainstream schools, compared with 41.5% nationally.

Most prevalent primary needs

Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH): 29.6% in Hampshire, compared with 21.4% nationally.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): 24.3% in Hampshire, compared with 31.5% nationally.

Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN): 21.0% in Hampshire, compared with 22.3% nationally.

In Hampshire, we recognise that:

  • there is increasing demand for SEND Support and specialist provision
  • education settings are supporting more complex and diverse needs
  • some children and young people experience significant barriers to attendance and engagement with education
  • there is a reliance on specialist out-of-area provision for some cohorts

These challenges reinforce the need to strengthen accessibility across all settings, ensuring that provision is inclusive, sustainable and able to meet a wide range of needs locally.

These needs must be met in line with the SEND reforms which set out an expectation that the majority of children and young people's needs will be met within mainstream education settings.