Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) conduct joint area Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) inspections to evaluate how effectively local education, health, and social care services work together to support children and young people with SEND. These inspections assess if the local area is fulfilling its responsibilities, the impact of services on children and their families, and service effectiveness. The process involves inspectors hearing directly from children, young people, and parents, engaging with the local partnership, and culminating in a published report with areas for improvement.
Who conducts the inspection
- Ofsted: Inspects education and children's social care services.
- CQC: Inspects health and adult social care services.
What is being inspected
- The overall effectiveness of the local area's arrangements for children with SEND
- The extent to which local area partnerships meet their legal responsibilities
- The impact of services on the lives of children and young people with SEND
- How well partners in education, health, and social care are working together
- The local authority's commissioning and oversight of alternative provision
A team from Ofsted re-assessed the support provided by City of York Council and York Health and Care Partnership in November 2022, following an earlier inspection in 2019 which found significant areas of weakness. Inspectors spoke to children and young people with SEND, parents and carers, and local authority and National Health Service officers. The inspectors found that progress had been made in each of the key areas assessed.
They particularly highlighted the strength of York’s co-production, how services are developed working with children, young people, parents and professionals, and the work to support local needs via the Early Talk for York communication and language programme and new Autism Hub.
As a SEND Partnership we continue to work on our York SEND improvement journey and anticipate an inspection under the Area SEND Inspection Framework, updated in June 2025.
Read more about the Area SEND inspections: framework and handbook.