September is when SEND records are most likely to be wrong in ways that matter. Pupils change classes, staff change roles, support starts or stops, and a document that looked current in July no longer describes the classroom.
A September SEND baseline is a short, time-bounded check of what the school believes about its SEND cohort before the first half term disappears. It is not a new census and it is not a request for every teacher to rewrite every plan.
What should the baseline answer?
By the end of the first six weeks, leaders should be able to answer:
- which pupils need an immediate handover;
- which plans are current and usable;
- which review dates are due soon;
- where provision has changed since July;
- which pupils or families need contact;
- where a specialist recommendation has not reached the classroom;
- what the school needs to resolve before the next review cycle.
The baseline should lead to decisions. A spreadsheet that only lists names and labels is not enough.
Week one: check the current record
Start with the pupils who have changed class, key adult, phase, timetable or setting. For each pupil, confirm:
- the current SEN support plan or EHCP information is available;
- the latest version is clearly marked;
- the main barrier and intended outcome are visible;
- classroom provision is described in usable language;
- pupil and family views are not obviously stale;
- the next review date is known;
- the person responsible for the next action is named.
Do not ask staff to rely on memory during this check. If a plan cannot be found without asking one person, that is a record issue worth fixing.
The teacher-usable SEN support plan guide gives a useful test: could another adult act on the plan without a separate verbal briefing?
Week two: compare planned and actual provision
Timetables change. Staffing changes. An intervention may be listed in a plan but no longer fit the school day.
Ask each class or subject teacher to confirm the provision that is happening in practice. Keep the questions short:
- What support is being delivered?
- When does it happen?
- Who owns it?
- What is the pupil expected to do?
- What is the first sign that the support needs adjusting?
Record the difference between planned and actual provision. Do not treat every difference as failure. A change may be a sensible response to the pupil’s current needs. The problem is an unexplained change that disappears from the record.
Week three: check review dates and unresolved actions
Review dates should be visible before they become urgent. Check the next six to eight weeks for:
- SEN support reviews;
- EHCP annual reviews;
- specialist advice follow-ups;
- parent or carer meetings;
- transition actions;
- requests to the local authority or health service;
- staff training or resource decisions.
For every overdue action, write the current status and next owner. “Chased” does not tell a leader whether the pupil has support now or what will happen next.
For EHCP reviews, use the annual review checklist to keep the evidence, pupil view, provision and follow-up decision connected.
Week four: listen to pupils, families and staff
A baseline built from adult records alone will miss the reason a support plan is failing.
Ask pupils what helps them start, participate, communicate and recover when something changes. Ask families what has changed since the last review and what information the school may be missing. Ask teachers which part of the current record is hardest to use.
Keep the answers attributed and specific. “Needs more support” is a signal to ask a better question. “The visual timetable helps until the room changes, then the pupil does not know what happens next” points to a concrete adjustment.
Week five: find the provision gaps
Use the baseline to group issues by action, not only by diagnosis. Useful categories include:
- support that is working and should be maintained;
- support that needs a small classroom adjustment;
- plans that need a formal review;
- specialist advice that needs implementation;
- a handover that is incomplete;
- a resource or accessibility issue;
- a concern that needs safeguarding or pastoral escalation through the school’s own route.
This is where a SEND provision map helps. It shows where support sits across the school without replacing the individual pupil record.
Week six: set the next-term priorities
The baseline should end with a short action list. For each priority, record:
- the issue;
- the pupils or group affected;
- the action;
- the owner;
- the date;
- the evidence that will show whether it helped.
Choose fewer priorities than the SEN team can comfortably review. A long list creates the feeling of control while making follow-up less likely.
What data should not be treated as a baseline?
Avoid using a register count, diagnosis list or intervention total as the whole baseline. These can provide context, but they do not show whether provision is current or useful.
A high number of pupils on SEN support does not by itself prove weak provision. A low number does not prove the opposite. The useful question is whether the school can connect identified barriers to provision, review evidence and a next decision.
The same caution applies to attendance and behaviour data. Use it to identify pupils who may need a closer look, not as a shortcut for explaining need.
Where MeritDocs fits
MeritDocs keeps the current SEND record, plans and review dates in one connected workflow, which makes a September baseline easier to assemble because staff can review the current record rather than search across separate folders and inboxes.
The school still decides what is accurate and what needs action. The value is that the evidence and next decision are easier to find when the school is under time pressure.
A compact September baseline checklist
Before the end of the first six weeks, check:
- priority handovers are complete;
- current plans are identifiable;
- provision matches the timetable or the change is explained;
- review dates are visible;
- overdue actions have owners;
- pupil and family views have been updated where needed;
- specialist advice has a classroom implementation step;
- provision gaps are grouped by action;
- next-term priorities have a date and evidence measure;
- the baseline is stored where the team can find it.
FAQs
Is a September baseline required by the DfE?
There is no single national September SEND baseline template that every school must use. It is a practical school-management check that supports the current graduated approach and continuity of provision.
How long should it take?
The process should be proportionate. Start with pupils affected by transition, changed staffing, new support or overdue review. Do not create a full new form for every pupil if the existing record already answers the question.
What should happen when a plan is out of date?
Keep the old version available, mark the current position clearly and assign the review or update to a named owner. Do not silently overwrite the decision history.
Should the baseline be shared with governors?
A short summary of themes, risks and actions can be useful. Do not share identifiable pupil information unless the school’s governance and data-protection arrangements specifically require it.