Funding for Inclusion

Early Years Funding

Children in early years are given Free Early Education Entitlement. This money is used to provide learning and development before a child starts reception at primary school.

Mainstream school funding

Schools receive a budget directly from the central government. Part of the school budget is for SEND education and provisions. This is sometimes called the inclusion budget.

If it costs up to an additional £6,000 to educate your child with SEND, (compared to children in the school without SEND) it will be funded by this budget.

You can ask your child's school:

how it uses the inclusion budget to support your child
for a copy of their SEND Information Report to find out what support they have planned for children with SEND at the school

Funding for special schools

Special schools are provided with base funding of £10,000 for each planned place. They can also receive extra funding through our Funding for Inclusion (FFI) scheme.

Inclusion funding managed by Leeds City Council

We receive money from the government every year to support and fund schools and settings. Some of this money is used for special educational needs provision and inclusion.

In Leeds, this applies to children and young people who:

need extra support at school for SEND
are a Leeds resident
are aged between 2 and 25 years of age

Children in Leeds do not need an education, health and care plan (EHCP) to access inclusion funding.

SEND and Inclusion Funding (SENDIF)

SENDIF is used to support children aged three or four year old with low level needs or emerging SEND.

Early Years Funding for Inclusion (EYFFI)

EYFFI is used to support children aged two, three and four years old who have high/special educational needs and meet criteria. It is also linked to the Free Early Education Entitlement and their eligibility for a free nursery place when they are three or four years old.