42.9%
New EHC plans issued within 20 weeks
% · 2025
Use the same exceptions basis for all comparisons. Excluding exceptions is the DfE release headline.
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SEND demand and school absence
Worsening · Medium attention
Severe absence has risen to 3.55% against 2.39% in England. EHC plan timeliness is recovering.
2,616EHC plans maintainedJanuary 2026
42.9%EHC plans within 20 weeks2025
3.55%Severely absent pupils2024/25
16.58Suspensions per 100 pupils2024/25
PortsmouthEngland
Pupil enrolments aged 5–15 missing 50% or more of possible sessions across the full academic year; state-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools.
Source: Department for Education · 2024/25
Checked 3 October 2026
| Year | Portsmouth | England |
|---|---|---|
| 2016/17 | 1.3% | 0.7% |
| 2018/19 | 1.69% | 0.85% |
| 2021/22 | 2.34% | 1.65% |
| 2022/23 | 2.99% | 2.03% |
| 2023/24 | 3.16% | 2.3% |
| 2024/25 | 3.55% | 2.39% |
Share of Portsmouth pupils holding an EHC plan, vs Southampton and England. Portsmouth schools, all types.
Source: DfE · January 2026
Checked 23 September 2026
| Year | Plans |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 1,513 |
| 2020 | 1,596 |
| 2021 | 1,662 |
| 2022 | 1,806 |
| 2023 | 1,919 |
| 2024 | 2,000 |
| 2025 | 2,310 |
| 2026 | 2,616 |
PortsmouthEngland
Percentage of new EHC plans issued within 20 weeks during calendar 2025, excluding cases where statutory exceptions apply.
Source: Department for Education · 2025
Checked 3 October 2026
Use the same exceptions basis for all comparisons. Excluding exceptions is the DfE release headline.
| Year | Portsmouth | England |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 96% | 58.7% |
| 2020 | 96.3% | 55.6% |
| 2021 | 97% | 57.9% |
| 2022 | 89.5% | 47.7% |
| 2023 | 1.6% | 49.1% |
| 2024 | 4.3% | 45.9% |
| 2025 | 42.9% | 45.5% |
PortsmouthEngland
Source: Department for Education
| Year | Portsmouth | England |
|---|---|---|
| 2015/16 | 6.95 | 4.29 |
| 2017/18 | 10.29 | 5.08 |
| 2018/19 | 10.04 | 5.36 |
| 2021/22 | 6.51 | 6.91 |
| 2022/23 | 13.20 | 9.33 |
| 2023/24 | 17.00 | 11.31 |
| 2024/25 | 16.58 | 10.88 |
Who owns itPortsmouth City Council, with schools and academy trustsAlso: Schools and multi-academy trusts, Department for Education
Why plan numbers need care
This is a very large discontinuity. It is internally consistent in DfE's own data — in 2023, 180 plans took between 20 weeks and a year and 9 took over a year — so it is not a suppression artefact. But no explanation is published alongside it, and none is inferred here. Anyone citing this should check the release's local-authority footnotes first.
What isn't published
Not published: No published explanation for the 2023 collapse in EHCP timeliness — anyone citing it should check the DfE release's local-authority footnotes first.
Not published: DfE publishes its disadvantage gap index for England only, so Portsmouth's gap can only be derived by subtracting two published figures.
Not published: No sub-city breakdown of absence, suspension or SEND is published.
Not published: Progress 8 is not published for 2024/25 because that cohort's KS2 baseline was cancelled in 2020.
Overview checked 26 August 2026. Additional figures have their own dates in the evidence explorer. Further context on UK Stat Pack.
More verified figures
42.9%
New EHC plans issued within 20 weeks — including exceptions
% · 2025
Use the same exceptions basis for all comparisons. Excluding exceptions is the DfE release headline.
2,616
Active education, health and care plans
plans · January 2026
Includes early years, further education and children educated elsewhere. This is not the number or share of school pupils with an EHC plan.
5.5%
16–17 year olds known to be NEET
% · 2026
Average of December 2025, January 2026 and February 2026 returns. DfE management information: local authority tracking completeness varies. Unknown activity must not be presented as confirmed NEET. National rates are published rounded to one decimal; local rates shown to one decimal for consistent presentation.
12.75%
Persistent absence — primary
% · 2024/25
0.95%
Severe absence — primary
% · 2024/25