Inspectors find effective progress in Oxfordshire’s SEND services

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have reported that Oxfordshire’s local area partnership has taken “effective action” to make improvements in services and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) following an initial inspection in July 2023.

A monitoring inspection to assess progress began on 15 September and ended with onsite activity between 29 September and 1 October 2025. Ofsted and CQC found that the local area partnership has taken effective action in all five areas that were previously identified as priorities.

The review recognised strengthened governance, improved communication and enhanced opportunities for children, young people and their families to contribute to service planning and evaluation.

Councillor Sean Gaul, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Young People’s Services, said: “We have been working extremely hard across the local area partnership to make necessary improvements following the 2023 inspection. Ofsted and the CQC’s latest report makes it clear that real progress is now being made and I praise our dedicated teams for their tireless efforts over many months.

“However, we will never allow ourselves to be complacent. The inspectors’ report is a significant milestone, providing valuable feedback and recommendations to ensure going forward there will be consistency across every aspect of SEND provision.

“We will continue to listen and involve families on this important journey of improvement for children and young people.”

During the monitoring visit, inspectors spoke to local area leaders, parents and carers of children and young people with SEND, and education, health and social care professionals. They also met with representatives of the parent carers forum (PCF) and other organised parent groups, the Department for Education and regional NHS England. They reviewed the performance of the local area partnership in addressing the priority actions identified at the initial inspection, including the priority action plan, self-evaluation and a range of evidence.

The inspectors noted that improved systems have been put in place for gathering and acting on the views of children and young people with SEND. The partnership has strengthened governance and leadership structures to ensure stable representation of partners and stakeholders, including the PCF, at the SEND Improvement and Assurance Board to help shape improvements. Leaders have developed a range of groups and committees that feed into this board, including the SEND Youth Forum and SEND Together events.

Inspectors recognised that clearer communication structures and increased partnership working are helping to better meet children’s needs. Professionals and services are working together more closely and are beginning to improve their use of children and young people’s views to help plan their support. This is starting to improve experiences for children and young people with SEND and their families.

The timeliness and quality of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) have improved overall, with swifter decision making and improved waiting times for needs assessments.

There are clear processes in place to help ensure that children and young people with SEND only access services that have been quality assured by the local authority. Leaders have created improved oversight to ensure that children and young people with SEND use suitable and safe provision that meets their needs more effectively.

School leaders have also benefitted from increased training provided by the partnership. In some schools, partnership-funded enhanced pathways have been implemented to support the inclusion of all children and young people with SEND. As a result, many children and young people’s needs are being more effectively met in mainstream settings.

Successful pilot projects in areas such as speech and language screening were cited as positive examples of joint commissioning arrangements to enhance services and support for SEND children and young people. However, concerns were noted in terms of the potential long-term sustainability of some initiatives.

Inspectors confirmed that partnership leaders now have effective oversight of the progress and impact of initiatives designed to improve the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND. The strengthened partnership structure brings together health, social care, education and parents effectively enabling a move towards more effective collaborative working. The partnership has stable foundations for improvement, and the systems to monitor and measure the impacts.

Dr Nick Broughton, Chief Executive at NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board, said: “We’re making real progress since the 2023 inspection thanks to the dedication of our teams, but we know there’s more to do. We’ll keep working with families to ensure every child and young person receives the consistent, high quality support they deserve.”

Inspectors made a number of recommendations, encouraging the local area partnership to continue to expand and strengthen opportunities for children, young people and families to share their views and influence decisions, particularly for those whose voices are less often heard.

The report recognised leaders know they have more work to do to build confidence with families, ensuring their opinions, and those of their children, are integral to future improvements.

Work must continue to address inconsistencies in communication between education and health services to provide a truly coordinated approach for all children and young people with SEND.

The inspectors emphasised a need for ongoing consistent quality assurance and regular reviews of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) so that all children receive detailed and appropriate support as their needs change.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission stressed that while effective action has been taken by the partnership, continued effort is required to sustain and build on these improvements. The local area partnership has been asked to update its SEND priority action plan as a result of the monitoring inspection.

Notes

• A copy of the latest report from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission is available online.
• In July 2023, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission undertook a local area partnership inspection of SEND services.
• The local area partnership includes Oxfordshire County Council, NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB), Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Oxfordshire Parent Carers Forum (OxPCF), the official body for the voice of parent carers. 

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