SEEN: Screening Early for Educational Needs

“At its heart, the SEEN study is about creating a fairer start for disadvantaged children. It’s about ensuring that children’s needs are spotted early, support is in place when it matters most, and every child has the opportunity to reach their potential”
— Dr Laura Outhwaite, Associate Professor

This study is being led by Dr Laura Outhwaite with Prof Claire Crawford, Prof Jo Van Herwegen and Dr Vincent Nguyen (UCL). The work is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Secondary Data Analysis Initiative. The study started in 2025 and aims to finish in 2027.

‍This project was reviewed and approved through ECHILD's data access process. Learn how ECHILD data is kept safe.‍

  • We want to know whether children’s performance on the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFS-P) at age 4-5 can be used to predict later Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

  • Effective screening measures are a key component to addressing increasing SEND needs and supporting SEND reforms, as they can efficiently identify which children may need additional follow-up assessments, interventions and support. Research shows that early SEND support can improve outcomes for children and reduce longer term spending pressures, but few studies have evaluated existing screening measures on a national scale.

  • Using ECHILD linking the National Pupil Database to health records, we analyse the suitability of the ‘Good level of Development’ measure assessed at age 4-5  in predicting later SEND.  

Find out more

  • Why does this matter?

    Over 1.7 million children are identified as having SEND, a figure which continues to rise year-on-year. This poses significant challenges for educational outcomes and opportunities, as children with SEND have the largest attainment gap with their peers, compared to other pupil characteristics.

    Faced with limited government funding, effective screening measures are a key component to addressing increasing demand for SEND support, as they can efficiently identify which children may need additional follow-up assessments, interventions and support.

    What do we want to find out?

    In Part 1 of the study, we want to evaluate the extent to which children’s performance on the EYFSP at age 4-5 can predict SEND needs up to age 15-16. In Part 2, we want to estimate what proportion of children who experienced some of their early years during the Covid-19 pandemic are at a heightened risk of later SEND needs.

    What we will do

    In Part 1 of the study, we follow one cohort of children and test the extent to which different measures of ‘Good Level of Development’ (e.g. categorical or linear scores) can predict later SEND needs. In Part 2, we aim to improve the predictions of later SEND need by also considering additional health information and demographic factors.

  • Early identification of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is a key policy priority in England. Part 1 of this project provides the first national-scale evaluation of the ‘Good Level of Development’ (GLD) measure for supporting the early identification of SEND. The GLD is part of the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFS-P) and is a statutory assessment completed by practitioners at the end of Reception (ages 4–5). A longitudinal study was conducted following 580,523 children from Reception (2012–13) to Year 6 (2018–19) using the ECHILD database, which links state-funded school and hospital records. Logistic regression analyses showed that GLD Overall (Reached/Not reached), GLD Overall (Areas of Learning), and GLD Linear scores significantly predicted later SEND identification. Furthermore, each of the five areas of learning made unique contributions to predicting SEND identification, with distinct profiles emerging across SEND types. However, while GLD scores were consistently predictive across pupil characteristics, some pupil characteristics were more likely to be identified as having SEND, despite equivalent GLD scores. Overall, this study concludes that GLD Overall (Reached/Not reached), which is currently used in educational practice, is a valid and practical screening measure for early SEND identification. However, structural inequalities in SEND identification must be addressed to ensure all children have equitable access to support.

    ECHILD data used

    • HES: Admitted Patient Care 2013/14-2022/23

    • NPD: Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (2012/13,2018/19, 2021/22) and Spring Census Pupil (2012/13-2023/24)

  • CEPEO working paper

    CEPEO blog