RNIB survey of VI services in England and Wales 2012: report for England
1. Introduction
In the summer term of 2012 RNIB carried out a national questionnaire survey of Visual Impairment (VI) education advisory services for blind and partially sighted children in England and Wales. This was the fifth RNIB survey of VI services, dating back to 1995. The aims of all the surveys have been to obtain:
- An estimate of the numbers of blind and partially sighted children who receive specialist educational support.
- Information about where pupils are being educated and the type of educational provision they receive.
- An overview of the policies and practices underpinning their educational provision.
An additional aim of the current survey was to follow up on the findings of two RNIB surveys that had been carried out in September 2010 and April 2011 to find out how local authority cuts were affecting VI services and the impact on provision for children and young people.
2. Method
In May 2012 a questionnaire was sent as an e-mail attachment to individual heads of VI and sensory services in England and Wales with an explanatory covering letter. Respondents were given the option of saving the questionnaire as a Word document, and completing and returning it electronically or printing the questionnaire, completing it by hand and returning it by post.
Eighty-seven questionnaires were returned for England representing 66.4% of VI services and 67.3% of local authorities.
The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS. Open ended questions were recorded onto a Word document and coded (categorised) retrospectively.
3. Key findings from the research
3.1 Finding 1
From data provided by 84 VI services a total of 16,372 children and young people from the Early Years Foundation Stage (under three years of age) to Year 13 (age 17/18) were identified.
3.2 Finding 2
We estimated (by extrapolation) that the total number of pupils with visual impairment up to the age of 18 supported by all VI services in England in the summer term of 2012 was 25,074. This is 16,000 more than the number of pupils in England with a statement or on School Action Plus recorded by DfE as having a visual impairment as their primary SEN.
3.3 Finding 3
Just over half of the children and young people supported by the VI services in the current survey had a visual impairment as their only SEN; two in five had another disability such as a physical or hearing impairment in addition to their visual impairment and three in ten had complex needs including severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties (SLD/PMLD).
3.4 Finding 4
Almost 900 children and young people were identified who used braille as their sole or main literacy format. Approximately 5% of pupils with visual impairment in Years 1 to 11 were braillists.
3.5 Finding 5
The majority of pupils were educated within their home local authority, with most of them in mainstream settings. 97% of primary aged (nursery/reception to Year 6) pupils and 94% in Years 7 to 11 were being educated within their local authority. The majority of pupils educated outside the local authority were in special schools
3.6 Finding 6
68% of primary aged and 59% of secondary aged pupils were in mainstream settings, including VI resourced schools and mainstream academies. 30% of primary and 36% of secondary school pupils were in special schools for pupils with learning, physical or hearing impairments. Only 1.4 per cent of primary and 3.5% of secondary aged pupils were in special schools designated for pupils with visual impairment.
3.7 Finding 7
Two in five services said there was at least one group of children and young people whose needs they were unable to fully meet. The main reasons given were insufficient staff in the VI team or LA policy. The groups most likely to be affected were young people in further education or other post school provision and those in special schools. Overall, a quarter of VI services did not support pupils in further education or other post-school settings
3.8 Finding 8
Over a 14-month period from April 2011 to June 2012 a quarter of VI services had experienced changes to the way that they were funded and/or organised. Changes included transferring the VI service management and budget to an external organisation or to a school, and combining the service with another SEN team.
3.9 Finding 9
14 VI services (17%) had between them lost or had frozen 31.1 staff posts. This included 12 qualified teachers of pupils with visual impairment (QTVIs). Other posts that had been lost included teaching assistants, mobility/rehabilitation officers, resource technicians, early years workers and administrative staff.
3.10 Finding 10
In addition to the reported changes to service organisation and reduction in staffing, 14 VI services had reduced or withdrawn support for at least one group of children and young people. Five services had plans to reduce or withdraw support in the future. The group most likely to have been affected was pupils whose level of visual impairment was regarded as not being of sufficient severity to meet the (new) criteria for VI service support.
4. Conclusions
The survey was carried out at a time of major change to the public sector and in education policy and practice. Over a quarter of the responding VI services had experienced changes to their funding and/or organisation within the past year and nearly one in five had lost staff posts, with the same proportion having reduced or withdrawn support for some groups of children and young people with visual impairment. Inevitably, many respondents expressed uncertainty about the future of their own service organisation and funding and the impact of any changes on the pupils they support.
While the main findings are presented in the full research report, we plan to give a more detailed analysis of some of the key issues,and their implications for policy and practice,through a future series of themed reports.
5. Further information
- The full research report can be downloaded from:
- For further information contact
© RNIB 2012
ESI Research briefing1