§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many special schools for children with a mental handicap (severe learning disabilities) existed in (a) 1997 and (b) now; and how many such children attended them in (a) 1997 and (b) now. [HL2010]
§ Baroness Ashton of UphollandIn January 1997 there were 348 special schools in England that were approved to make provision for pupils with severe learning difficulties, compared with 449 in January 2001.
Information on individual pupils' disabilities is not collected centrally so there is no way of determining how many pupils with severe learning difficulties are attending special schools. These schools often make provision for pupils with several different disabilities and may not have pupils with severe learning difficulties enrolled at the school at the time of the Annual School's Census.