British Dyslexia Association’s response to the Education Policy Institute Annual Report 2020
Wednesday 26 August 2020
The Education Policy Institute’s Annual Report on Education in England has highlighted a growing imbalance in our education system. It demonstrates that since the new SEND Code of Practice (2015), non-statutory funded pupils, who are likely to have Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) might not be included in the data and are therefore not guaranteed to have received evidence-based support which meets their needs.
"We frequently hear of pupils with Dyslexia and other SpLDs struggling to access appropriate support which addresses their underlying needs Pre-Covid. This highlights how Diagnostic Assessments at an early stage in education are essential in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of pupils for informing teachers of what the specific needs are. What is now understood from the EPI report is how great the impact of Covid-19 has been on a variety of pupils including those with SpLDs. We have essentially asked parents to take over the specialist teaching of their own children which schools look to professionals to provide a model for. What schools have provided will differ and the question we should look to answer is, have we set our children up for failure?”
Gillian Ashley, Interim CEO, British Dyslexia Association
"We would like to encourage the Education Policy Institute to examine the impact on students with specific learning difficulties in greater detail, and what plans need to be in place to support them as they return to school.”
Sue Flohr, Head of Policy at the British Dyslexia Association
The British Dyslexia Association regularly receives feedback from parents that the current school system is not fit to support their child’s education. In a recent study by the British Dyslexia Association for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dyslexia and other SpLDs, one parent commented that:
“I feel I’ve failed my child by placing him in an education system that doesn’t cater for him.”
You can read the report in full by visiting the Education Policy Institute's website.