Schools are rejecting children because of their additional needs, says select committee chair. But Ofsted gives no indication it will hold institutions to account

Sir Martyn Oliver, chief inspector, also said it was “staggering” that 84 per cent of children’s homes are now operated by private providers.

MPs across the country are receiving reports of children not being offered school places “because of their additional needs,” a Parliamentary evidence session heard today – though Ofsted’s leader offered little sense that the inspectorate would hold institutions to account for this.

At two points during a session of the Commons Education Select Committee this morning, the chief inspector of schools was told of “exclusionary practices” by schools in relation to children with special educational needs and disabilities [SEND].

However, on both occasions Sir Martyn Oliver gave no indication that the inspectorate would issue findings that would carry consequences for an individual school.

Sir Martyn said he was committed to inclusion and that it ran through all aspects of Ofsted’s new inspection framework.