Department of Education and Science: Committee of Inquiry into Special Education...

This series contains the records of the Committee of Inquiry into Special Education set up by the then Secretary of State for Education, Margaret Thatcher, in 1974 to review educational provision for children and young adults in England, Scotland and Wales who were affected by physical and mental disabilities; the inquiry was chaired by Mary Warnock (later Baroness Warnock). The series also contains the minutes and papers of the Warnock Steering Group which was set up to consider the implications of the Warnock Report.

Files relating to the establishment of the committee can be found in ED 269

• Department of Education and Science, Committee of Inquiry into Special Education, 1974-1978
• Department of Education and Science, Warnock Steering Group, 1978-1979

In 2004 Department for Education and Skills

Topics

Children

The Committee of Inquiry was set up in 1974 under the chairmanship of Mrs Mary Warnock, research fellow in philosophy at Lady Margaret Hall, with the following terms of reference:

" To review educational provision in England, Scotland and Wales for children and young people handicapped by disabilities of body and mind, taking account of the medical aspects of their needs, together with arrangements to prepare them for entry into employment; to consider the most effective use of resources for these purposes; and to make recommendations"

The report of the committee, which introduced the concept of special educational needs, was published in 1978 (Cmnd 7212) and its recommendations with respect to the"statementing" of the needs of severely disabled children were enshrined in the Education Act 1981.