The Department of Education has published the latest statistics on the numbers of young people with Education Health and Care plans. This shows that there are now (as at Jan 2018) a total of 319,819 children and young people with a statement or an EHCP, an increase of 32,529 (11.3%) since January 2017. Over 84,000 of these (26.3%) are aged between 16 and 25. Of the 46,854 students with EHCPs in FE settings, 4270 (just over 9%) have a place in specialist colleges. This is a similar percentage to previous years, but the overall number has risen by over 1,000 since 2017.
The latest DfE SEND newsletter includes information on the progress of transfers from statements to EHCPs and a survey about supported internships.