SEN Exceptional Circumstance Funding – Explanatory Notes
When might a school apply for SEN Exceptional Circumstances Funding?
All mainstream, free schools and academies are provided with resources to support
those with additional needs, including pupils with SEN and disabilities. Most of these
resources are determined by a local funding formula, discussed with the local
schools forum, which is also applied to local academies.
Sometimes, in mainstream schools, unexpected circumstances arise in relation to a
child or young person with SEN. For example, a child moves into Barnet from a
different part of the country and they have a high level of special educational need
which the school could not have predicted in advance. The school then has to make
additional special educational provision which they could not have planned for.
This might also include making provision for a child or young person with medical
needs. For example, a young child who has severe diabetes and might need his
sugar levels testing regularly throughout the day.
In circumstances like this, the school might apply for SEN Exceptional
Circumstances Funding.
Exceptional Circumstance Funding is not for pupils who already have a Statement or
EHC Plan.
The application will be considered by the Complex Needs Panel.
What information does Panel need?
The school will need to fill in the Application to SEN Funding for Exceptional
Circumstances Form, which can be found on Barnet’s local offer (‘Application to SEN
Funding’ document).
https://www.barnet.gov.uk/citizen-home/children-young-people-and-families/the-local-offer-and-specialeducational-needs/education-in-the-local-offer/funding-of-sen.html
The school will need to provide specific information as part of their application:
 they should show that the need to make special educational provision was not
predictable.
 a costed provision map should be included showing what support has been
put in place at SEN support.
 the school should explain why they need extra funding and
 how much extra funding they think they need and what it will be used for.
Funding for SEN
All maintained mainstream schools, academies and free schools have funding in
their budgets for SEN. This is made up from 3 different elements:
 Element 1:
The age weighted pupil unit (AWPU) – this is the basic funding which schools
receive for every child. Some of this money is used to make general SEN provision.
 Element 2:
This is an identified figure within the delegated budget which each school receives
annually. This is from a funding stream called the designated schools grant or
schools block. It is provided by LAs for mainstream schools and the EFA
for Academies and Free Schools. This element of funding is used
to fund the special educational provision for children on SEN support and a
proportion of funding for children with statements/EHCP’s
Schools are expected to fund the first £6,000 of support for pupils with SEN from
their Element 1 and Element 2 funding. This amount has been agreed nationally.
This amount funds ‘ordinarily available’ provision. This is an average figure, as not all
pupils with SEN require special educational provision costing £6,000. This money is
used for pupils requiring special educational provision including, for example, the
commissioning of external experts such as therapists to attend a school and provide
support.
 Element 3:
‘Top up funding’
If a school requires funding that goes beyond the maximum £6,000 to provide a
pupil’s special educational provision, then depending on the assessed needs of the
pupil concerned, the LA will provide the required funding from the LA’s high needs
block through an EHC Plan. So, for example, if a pupil’s Plan requires funding of
£10,000 the school will receive an additional £4,000 as they already have £6,000 in
their budget through Elements 1 and 2.
Calculating the balance of money available to schools
When considering requests for exceptional circumstances Panel will look at the
school’s total Notional SEN Budget. They then calculate what 60% of that budget
would be..
After taking account of the funding for pupils with statements/EHC Plans, if the
school hasn’t used up all of its 60%, then Panel would consider that they have
enough funding from within their existing budget to support the pupil.
Two examples of how this works in practice are outlined below:
Example 1.
 a school has a SEN notional budget of £150,000
 60% of £150,00 is £90,000
 the school has 10 pupils with statements/EHC Plans
 the Element 2 funding for these 10 pupils is £60,000

but 60% of the school’s notional SEN budget totals £90,000 so the school still
has £30,00 in its budget to support additional needs.
In this case Panel would advise that funding was already available in the SEN
Notional budget and the school should meet the child’s needs from their own
resources.
Example 2.
•
a school has a SEN notional budget of £150,000
•
60% of £150,00 is £90,000
•
the school has 20 pupils with statements/EHC Plans
•
the Element 2 funding for these 20 pupils is £120,000
•
but 60% of the school’s notional SEN budget totals £90,000 so the school
is spending much more than 60% to support additional needs. In fact, they
are spending 80% of their notional budget.
This school could apply for SEN exceptional circumstances funding in this
circumstance.
The School SEN Notional Budget can be found on the Barnet School Funding and
Finance web page. https://www.barnet.gov.uk/wwc-home/information-forschools/school-funding-and-finance.html. Follow the link to the relevant academic
year to obtain the school’s most recent funding allocation spread sheet. View the
SEN Notional Tab to view the relevant budget figure.
Medical needs
Applications may also be made for support where children have medical needs that
required additional funding. Panel will consider each medical case on need. The
calculation used to ascertain the available SEN Notional budget will not be used in
such cases.


The school must supply a costed provision map for the child showing how the
funding requested will be used.
Any relevant supporting documentation must be made available to panel, i.e.
Educational Psychologist reports, CAHMS reports any supporting medical
documentation.
In order to prevent the school using resources to make an application that will
not be granted please ensure that all the above criteria is met before
completing the Exceptional Circumstance Funding Form.
To apply for SEN exceptional circumstances funding complete the relevant form
which can be located on Barnet’s local offer (‘Application to SEN Funding’
document):
https://www.barnet.gov.uk/citizen-home/children-young-people-and-families/the-local-offer-and-specialeducational-needs/education-in-the-local-offer/funding-of-sen.html
Completed forms and documents should be submitted securely via post or to USOFX account, [email protected].