0-25 Multi-agency SEND Data Dashboard

Anna Gardiner, CDC
Anna Gardiner, CDC
Published
View & Download Resources

What is the SEND Data Dashboard?

The dashboard is a commissioning tool that brings together data relevant to education, health and social care in one tool.

The dashboard is designed to support local areas to understand their data through 3 lenses:

  • Local profile: understanding local need
  • Governance and assurance: ‘what did we do and how well are we doing it?’
  • Qualitative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): ‘how do we know we are making a difference?’

The dashboard uses data already captured by local areas – as part of national data collection – to display data at a local area level. There is no obligation on local areas to capture additional data in order to populate the dashboard.

What health data does it include?

The dashboard is fed by data from a range of publically available datasets including those published by:

  • Department for Education (Local Authority Interactive Tool, SEN Data, Attainment and destination data)
  • NHS Digital (Learning Disability Services, Community Services Dataset)
  • Office of National Statistics

At the moment there is health data relating to mental health services, national learning disability statistics, personal health budgets and GP annual health checks data for learning disability.

How is this dashboard different to others?

This dashboard has been designed using existing indicators from publically available datasets (including LG Inform and the Local Area Interactive Tool); these chosen indicators are all specific to the SEND population and to commissioning for this group. Currently this education, health and care data is in different places, captured by different parts of the system and provides assurance to different agencies. By bringing them together into one tool, the different agencies that make up the SEND system at local area level can see the same data and use this to inform their local planning and design.


Existing dashboards which capture this data do not have a SEND commissioning specific focus. The dashboard includes links to these dashboards as well as a supplementary resource which maps all datasets with relevance to SEND. The dashboard also provides functionality to compare local areas’ and region-level data and includes health and social care data, alongside education data which is fundamental to achieving holistic commissioning that is needs-led. The dashboard will complement the soon to be published SEND Index which will focus on SEND schools data.

Why is there not more health data?

The richest health data relating to children and young people and those with SEND, would be captured in the Community Services Dataset. Although, data capture and submission to this has been mandated since October 2015, compliance with this is low and so we have taken the decision not to include data relating to this dataset at the moment since compliance is patchy. We hope to work with NHS Digital and local areas to encourage increased data input and we will then include this data in the dashboard. Below there is more information on what indicators the dataset captures, a case study and resources form Sunderland, where excellent progress in using the dataset is being made.

Local areas can use the existing dashboard to upload local health data e.g. relating to children’s continuing care by using the local data template tab.

April 2020 Update: Qualitative indicator development

The 0-25 Multi-Agency SEND Data Dashboard has been updated to include suggested indicators that local areas could use either within an existing local outcomes framework and SEND dashboard, or to support further local discussion on how the impact of the Government’s SEND reforms should be measured.

Data to support each of the indicators has been updated from the latest published information available, and now includes a tab around Section 251 financing in response to a request from the Department for Education.

May 2021 Update: PowerBI version of our SEND Data Dashboard

We have developed a PowerBI version of our SEND Data Dashboard. This version allows:

  • Greater flexibility with visualisations
  • Local Areas can adapt visualisations if they download the PBix file
  • Easier to download underlying data. 

On the Help Guide tab of the dashboard are instructions on how to use it and how to update data.

 How to download the dashboard

To download the dashboard please right click on the link below and select ‘save link as’

Download our Power Bi SEND Data Dashboard

You will need to have Power Bi installed to be able to use the dashboard. You can download it here.

CDC support for local areas 

If your local area would like support with creating a local multi-agency SEND dashboard, then please contact Philippa Watts at pwatts@ncb.org.uk.

The Data Dashboard and supporting guidance documents are downloadable via the weblink below.

CDC have also developed an Outcomes based Data Dashboard to capture and analyse multi-agency data that monitors progress towards holistic, life outcomes for children and young people with SEND. You can find more information and links to download the Outcomes Dashboard here.