Top Schools ‘Hide Special Needs Help To Save Ranking’

Leading independent schools are hiding their special needs provision to avoid being swamped and protect their league table ratings, according to an influential guide.

First-class help for children suffering from conditions such as dyslexia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is given at many private schools.

But the compilers of this month’s special-needs edition of the Good Schools Guide said that some schools played down their provision, meaning parents had an “uphill struggle” finding a place for their child.

Some schools apparently feared that they would become a magnet for special-needs pupils if they cultivated that reputation, potentially damaging their league rankings. They also did not want to upset fee-paying parents of non-special needs children who felt that it would damage their children’s education.

Sandra Hutchinson, the editor of the special-needs edition, said: “Some schools have asked, nay demanded, that we remove their special educational needs information from the guide.

“We largely ignore them as parents need to know. Would schools have acted in a similar fashion if we’d said how terrific their provision for gifted and talented kids is?”