European Agency Statistics on Inclusive Education (EASIE) www European Agency Statistics on Inclusive Education (EASIE) www.european-agency.org/data

The European Agency An independent organisation that acts as a platform for collaboration for the ministries of education in member countries Our mission is to help member countries improve their inclusive education policy and practice for all learners Our work is in line with and directly supports international and European Union policy initiatives on education, equity, equal opportunities and rights for all learners One part of the Agency is the European Agency Statistics on Inclusive Education (EASIE)

European Agency Statistics on Inclusive Education (EASIE) The Agency’s biennial data collection exercise aims to provide clearly focused data that informs the European Commission’s Education and Training 2020 strategic objectives and the implementation of Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) (2006). The EASIE data collection work has focused on developing procedures, indicators and outputs that provide individual country, comparative and aggregated data to inform country-level work relating to all learners’ access to inclusive education.

Countries currently involved 31 Agency member countries (not all countries are involved in all data collection cycles) Austria, Belgium (Flemish and French communities), Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) Each country is linked to its individual country information page on the Agency website.

Outputs of the EASIE work There are different outputs from the data collection and data analysis: Data tables and background information (all available data and background information for each country) Methodology reports (an overview of the methodology developed within the EASIE data collection activities) Country reports (which are not public but for individual countries only) Cross-country reports (the 2014 and 2016 dataset cross-country reports, with all available data for all participating countries together) Key Messages and Findings report (information on the main EASIE findings and key messages)

An agreed set of 17 indicators related to five equity issues and questions Access to mainstream education What proportion of learners go to mainstream school? Access to inclusive education What proportion of learners spend the majority of their time with their peers in mainstream classrooms?

Equity issues and questions Placement of learners with an official decision of SEN Where are learners with an official decision of SEN placed for their education? Gender breakdowns of data on placement of learners with an official decision of SEN What are the differences in the identification rates and placement rates of girls and boys with an official decision of SEN? ISCED level breakdowns of data on placement of learners with an official decision of SEN What are the differences in the identification rates and placement rates of learners between ISCED 1 and 2?

Percentage of learners in compulsory school with an official decision of SEN for ISCED 1 and 2 in 2016 (Total average of 4.44% for 30 countries) <2% 2.01%-4.0% 4.01%-6.00% 6.01%-8.00% >8.01% Luxembourg France Denmark Croatia Belgium (FL) Sweden Italy Germany Cyprus Czech Republic Netherlands UK N. Ireland Estonia Iceland Poland Finland Lithuania Spain Hungary Malta Switzerland Ireland Norway UK England Latvia Slovakia UK Wales Portugal UK Scotland Slovenia

Percentage of learners with an official decision of SEN in fully separate educational settings for ISCED 1 and 2 in 2016 (Total average of 1.62% for 24 countries) <1% 1.01%-2.00% 2.01%-3.00% 3.01%-4.00% >4.01%- Croatia Cyprus Hungary Czech Republic Denmark Norway France Slovenia Switzerland Estonia Spain Iceland Finland Ireland Latvia Lithuania Slovakia Luxembourg Poland Portugal UK England UK N. Ireland UK Scotland UK Wales

Key Messages and Findings (2014 / 2016) 1. Overall, the available data supports the assertion from other areas of Agency work that inclusive education is a policy vision for all Agency member countries. All countries provide inclusive education opportunities for some learners with an official decision of SEN. 2. Looking at countries’ definitions of an ‘official decision of SEN’, all countries identify different groups of learners as having SEN. Learners with an official decision of SEN include learners with disabilities as defined by the UNCRPD, but also other groups of learners who have special/additional educational needs that require extra support and resources.

Key Messages and Findings (2) 3. The identification rates of learners with an ‘official decision of SEN’ differ greatly across all countries. This data reflects country differences in legislation and policies for identifying learners with SEN, as presented and discussed in other areas of Agency work. 4. None of the countries has a fully inclusive system where 100% of learners attend mainstream classes and are educated with their peers for at least 80% of their time, in line with the EASIE placement benchmark. All countries use different forms of separate specialist provision – schools, classes and/or units, as well as different forms of non-school-based education (i.e. home-schooling or provision maintained by other sectors).

Key Messages and Findings (3) 5. The rates of placement in separate, non-mainstream provision (separate special schools, classes, units and non-formal education programmes) differ across all countries. 6. In all countries, about twice as many boys as girls are identified as having a special educational need requiring an official decision of SEN. This 2:1 ratio is reflected in the placement rates of boys and girls in different settings that is apparent in most countries. 7. There is substantial variation among countries in the proportion of learners within the two ISCED levels. This indicates that countries identify learners requiring an official decision in different ways and during different stages of their schooling.

Key Messages and Findings (4) 8. The situation of learners who are out of school for different reasons and under different circumstances (i.e. formally enrolled in education but do not attend, or not enrolled in any form of education) is unclear in almost all countries. 9. Trend data available from all countries shows no overall average change in the identification rates of learners with an official decision of SEN. However, some individual countries have clear increases in the proportion of learners with an official decision of SEN. 10. Trend data available from all countries also shows that, on average, there is a negligible decrease in the proportion of learners with an official decision of SEN in fully separate educational settings (special classes and schools).

Contact www.european-agency.org European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education Østre Stationsvej 33, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark secretariat@european-agency.org Tel.: +45 64 41 00 20