Supplementary information files for "Uneven geographies of special educational needs and school segregation in England"

Supplementary files for article "Uneven geographies of special educational needs and school segregation in England"The paper documents new educational and social geographies: the intensified and variable geographies of segregation and exclusion of one of the most marginalised groups of children, those with labels/experiences of ‘Special Educational Needs and Disabilities’ (SEND), who are usually disabled or neurodiverse, in England. The disadvantage faced by, and systematic societal failure to support, disabled and neurodiverse children has become increasingly visible within political and media debates, yet is largely overlooked within geography and broader social sciences. We present original findings demonstrating that increasing proportions of children are being educated in segregated special schools, and that these geographies are uneven at the local (Local Authority) scale, despite a stated presumption of mainstream education, dating back to 1989 and within existing legislation (Children and Families Act, 2014). Time and spatial trends in the school provision of children with SEND are analysed using multilevel longitudinal models and panel data at Local Authority scale. Critically, location is pivotal to whether children attend segregated special schools. The spatial difference is tied to: the proportions of children with statutory support, Local Authorities with higher levels of income deprivation affecting children, and the types of labels/experiences of ‘need’—particularly the increasing number of children on the autism spectrum. In light of the stated government priority to continue a presumption towards inclusion in mainstream schools, our analysis begs questions of the ability of mainstream schools to include children with common and growing ‘differences’, particularly in locations of high deprivation.© The Author(s), CC BY 4.0