(UK) Leeds: Students wait over a year for completion of SPED plans

June 18, 2026, City’s special needs service needs ‘urgent improvement’ - West Leeds Dispatch

Families across Leeds have been let down by a SEND system with “widespread and systemic failings,” a major inspection report has concluded – findings that a local parent carer group says come as no surprise.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission inspected Leeds’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services in late April, finding that children are waiting an average of 54 weeks for education, health and care plans — documents that legally must be completed within 20 weeks and which determine what specialist support a child receives.

Between January and March 2026, just 7.4% of plans met that legal deadline. . . .

Inspectors raised particular concern about the neurodevelopmental assessment waiting list, where half of children have had no direct contact with services. The Leeds Health and Care Partnership was unable to confirm what provision would replace the current assessment contract when it ends. . . .