New Department for Education analysis finds 14% of children in need (58,100) had a recorded disability in 2025, broadly stable over the past decade, with autism now the most commonly recorded disability type (46%), up from 31% in 2015

Children in need with a recorded disability were more likely to be eligible for free school meals, suspended, and persistently absent than the overall pupil population, and had far lower Key Stage 2 and 4 attainment than both other children in need and all pupils

Care leavers with a recorded disability were more likely to be NEET than those without one, 43% of 17 to 21 year olds compared with 36%, and less likely to move into foster placements or independent living

Since 2015, the number of children in need with a recorded disability in London has risen by 56%, with London and the South East now reporting the highest proportion of children in need with a recorded disability (17.8%), despite overall child in need numbers in London falling over the same period

Over half of children assessed as having a learning disability (52%) and nearly half with a physical disability (47%) were not recorded as disabled in the official census, pointing to data quality issues in how disability is captured