SEND support in Bristol: local services and practical next steps
Bristol City Council runs one SEND Local Offer for the city. Nearby North Somerset and South Gloucestershire have separate council systems, even when a health or advice service works across all three areas.
How support is organised in Bristol
Bristol's SEND Local Offer brings together education, EHC plan, social care, health and activity information for children and young people aged 0 to 25. It is the right council starting point if your home address is within Bristol City Council.
Some local organisations work across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. That wider service footprint does not change which council handles an EHC needs assessment or another statutory SEND request.
Bristol City Council manages EHC needs assessments and children's social care for city residents. SEND and You provides the free SEND information, advice and support service across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, while each council keeps its own Local Offer and statutory processes.
NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board plans NHS services across the same three council areas. The hospital, community team or mental health provider named on a referral remains the practical contact for an individual appointment or waiting-list query.
The local picture in Bristol
This section maps the current health bodies serving this area and, where a comparable official measure is available, presents it alongside the national figure. It is not a rating of the area or the quality of an individual service.
Health
NHS commissioning for Bristol
Integrated care boards, usually shortened to ICBs, plan and pay for many NHS services in England. They do not necessarily deliver an assessment or treatment themselves, and some pathways work across more than one area.
education
EHC plans issued within 20 weeks
The percentage of new EHC plans issued within the statutory 20-week period during 2025, excluding cases where permitted exceptions applied.
| Council | Local figure | England comparison | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol, City of | 6.8% | England: 46.1%39.3 percentage points below the England figure | 2025 calendar year |
How to read this indicator
The Department for Education calculates this measure from the mandatory SEN2 return. FamilyFX presents each responsible council separately and compares its published percentage with the England figure for the same period and definition.
Timeliness describes one part of the EHC plan process. It does not show the quality of a plan, whether support was suitable or what an individual family experienced. A high percentage can also be based on a relatively small number of plans.
Source: Department for Education, checked 14 August 2026. Update frequency: annual.
Autism referral data for NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire
NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire plans NHS services across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. The March 2026 figures describe recorded suspected-autism referrals across the system, not an individual provider's complete waiting list. NHS England records shared leadership with NHS Gloucestershire, but the boards remain separate legal entities.
Recorded referrals
1,740
Open suspected-autism referrals
People whose suspected-autism referral was recorded as open at some point in March 2026.
A count shows scale, not comparative performance.
Share of referrals
90.2%
Open for at least 13 weeks
The share of recorded open suspected-autism referrals that had been open for 13 weeks or longer.
England: 89.7%. 0.5 percentage points higher than the England figure.
Share of referrals
1.0%
First contact within 13 weeks
Among referrals open for at least 13 weeks, the share with a first attended care contact recorded within 13 weeks of referral.
England: 3.7%. 2.7 percentage points lower than the England figure.
Share of referrals
82.8%
No first care contact recorded
Among referrals open for at least 13 weeks, the share without a first care contact recorded in the dataset.
England: 82.7%. 0.1 percentage points higher than the England figure.
What these figures mean
A system signal, not a waiting-time promise
The NHS England measures follow suspected-autism referrals from the referral date to the first attended care contact recorded in the Mental Health Services Dataset. FamilyFX preserves the published counts, shows the numerator and denominator behind each derived percentage, and compares only measures with the same definition and reporting month.
NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire continued on the same statutory footprint on 1 April 2026. The calculation uses source rows QUY. Published counts are rounded, so derived percentages are approximate.
Important limitation
This dataset is incomplete by design
These are official statistics in development, not a complete autism waiting list. Most child autism assessments take place in community paediatric services whose activity cannot yet be identified in the Community Services Dataset. March 2026 data from Psychiatry UK was incomplete, and a missing care-contact date can mean a contact was not submitted, the person was still waiting, or the referral closed without a first appointment. The figures should not be used to rate an ICB or predict an individual wait.
Show the calculation behind each figure
| Measure | Numerator | Denominator | NHS codes | Calculation note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open suspected-autism referrals | 1,740 | Not applicable | ASD16 | The published count is retained without a population comparison because it describes system scale, not comparative performance. |
| Open for at least 13 weeks | 1,570 | 1,740 | ASD16 + ASD16a | FamilyFX divided ASD16a by ASD16 and rounded the result to one decimal place. Source counts are published rounded values. |
| First contact within 13 weeks | 15 | 1,570 | ASD16a + ASD18 | FamilyFX divided ASD18 by ASD16a and rounded the result to one decimal place. Source counts are published rounded values. |
| No first care contact recorded | 1,300 | 1,570 | ASD16a + ASD18b | FamilyFX divided ASD18b by ASD16a and rounded the result to one decimal place. A missing contact is not the same as a confirmed wait. |
What has changed, and what it means for families
The current statutory ICB footprint
NHS England lists NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board among the 36 ICBs operating from 1 April 2026. Its footprint covers Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Why this matters: The ICB is responsible for planning and commissioning across this wider system. The provider named on a referral remains the practical contact for an individual appointment or waiting-list query.
Read the source from NHS EnglandNHS commissioning and statutory boundaries · published 1 April 2026 · checked 14 August 2026
Shared leadership does not create one local pathway
NHS England records NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire in a leadership cluster with NHS Gloucestershire. The ICB remains a separate legal body with its own footprint and published information.
Why this matters: Use the ICB site for current commissioning, policy and pathway information. For a personal referral update, use the hospital, community service or assessment provider named in the referral correspondence.
Read the source from NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care BoardCurrent NHS system and pathway information · checked 14 August 2026
ADHD referral data for NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire
NHS England now publishes ICB-level management information about referrals that may relate to ADHD assessment. These figures add useful scale and waiting-band context, but they are not a confirmed ADHD waiting list.
Read this first
These are referrals that may be for an ADHD assessment. They are not confirmed diagnoses and should not be read as an exact local ADHD waiting list.
Open referrals
At least 8,960
Possible ADHD referrals still open
Open mental-health referrals recorded under neurodevelopmental conditions excluding autism, including referrals that have already had a first contact.
Open referrals
At least 7,895
Open for more than 13 weeks
Possible ADHD referrals recorded in the three published bands above 13 weeks. This describes referral age, not a promised assessment date.
Open referrals
At least 5,620
Open for more than 52 weeks
Possible ADHD referrals recorded in the 52-to-104-week and 104-weeks-or-more bands.
Open referrals
At least 6,630
No first contact recorded
Open possible-ADHD referrals without a first care contact in the submitted Mental Health Services Dataset record.
Monthly referrals
At least 445
New possible referrals in March
Possible ADHD referrals newly recorded during March 2026. It is a monthly flow measure rather than a waiting-list total.
Possible open referrals by recorded age
Each bar uses ADHD003 for the same reporting month. Bar lengths compare age groups within this displayed footprint only.
People aged 0 to 4
People aged 5 to 17
People aged 18 to 24
People aged 25+
Age not recorded in the source row
How the figures were built
A traceable system signal
Measures ADHD003 to ADHD007 come from the Mental Health Services Dataset. NHS England identifies referrals whose primary reason is recorded as neurodevelopmental conditions excluding autism, then publishes their status and time bands by age. FamilyFX keeps the official definitions, source codes and reporting month visible and does not combine the figures into a score or rank.
FamilyFX added the published March 2026 age-band values for predecessor ICB code or codes QUY. Values are rounded to the nearest five, and asterisks marking small suppressed cells are retained as lower bounds.
Important limitation
The publication is still developing
The referral category can include conditions other than ADHD, while some ADHD pathways, Right to Choose providers and independent providers do not submit complete data. An open referral may also remain open after assessment because medication reviews or continuing care are still managed by the provider. The figures therefore cannot give an exact ADHD waiting list, a diagnosis count or an individual waiting-time estimate.
Show the NHS measures behind these figures
| Measure | Displayed value | NHS codes | Calculation note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Possible ADHD referrals still open | At least 8,960 | ADHD003 | This is a lower-bound subtotal. Small source cells may be suppressed, or a 2026 boundary change may prevent part of the current footprint being separated from a predecessor ICB row. |
| Open for more than 13 weeks | At least 7,895 | ADHD003b + ADHD003c + ADHD003d | This is a lower-bound subtotal. Small source cells may be suppressed, or a 2026 boundary change may prevent part of the current footprint being separated from a predecessor ICB row. |
| Open for more than 52 weeks | At least 5,620 | ADHD003c + ADHD003d | This is a lower-bound subtotal. Small source cells may be suppressed, or a 2026 boundary change may prevent part of the current footprint being separated from a predecessor ICB row. |
| No first contact recorded | At least 6,630 | ADHD004 | This is a lower-bound subtotal. Small source cells may be suppressed, or a 2026 boundary change may prevent part of the current footprint being separated from a predecessor ICB row. |
| New possible referrals in March | At least 445 | ADHD007 | This is a lower-bound subtotal. Small source cells may be suppressed, or a 2026 boundary change may prevent part of the current footprint being separated from a predecessor ICB row. |
Urgent help
Urgent health and mental health help in England
Use NHS 111 when you need urgent help but it is not a life-threatening emergency. Call 999 in an emergency.
Visit Urgent health and mental health help in EnglandLocal organisations and advice
Bristol City Council
Covers Bristol
Use for a Bristol City Council home address.
Visit websiteNHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board
Covers Bristol and wider BNSSG
Local providers deliver individual care.
Visit websiteInformation, Advice and Support Services Network
Find the free, impartial SEND advice service for your council area.
Visit websiteNHS England
Use NHS guidance for urgent help; call 999 in an emergency.
Visit websiteServices and local pathways
SEN support and EHC plan guidance
Department for Education SEND guidance
Official English guidance on SEN support and EHC plans.
Who it is for: Children and young people in England who have or may have special educational needs.
How to access it: Begin with the education setting. Use the council route for an EHC needs assessment or Local Offer information.
Check current detailsFind your local SEND information, advice and support service
Information, Advice and Support Services Network
Find the impartial advice service for your home council.
Who it is for: Children and young people with SEND and their parents or carers in England.
How to access it: Choose your local authority in the Council for Disabled Children directory and contact the listed service directly.
Check current detailsADHD assessment choices in England
If a GP is making an elective referral for an ADHD assessment in England, you may have a legal right to choose a clinically appropriate provider that holds a qualifying NHS Standard Contract. The referrer still decides whether the referral and provider are clinically appropriate, and the rules do not apply in every situation.
NHS England explains the underlying patient-choice rules. ADHD UK also publishes an ICB finder with local information gathered about ADHD assessment routes and waiting times. Its information is independent of the NHS, so check the current position with your GP and the relevant NHS organisation before relying on it for a referral.
Practical next steps
Use Bristol's live Local Offer for current forms and contacts. If you are unsure whether a Bristol postal address is inside the city boundary, check the council for the home address before sending a statutory request.
At school, ask the SENCO to record the need, what support will change, who will arrange it and when it will be reviewed. Support should respond to what a child is finding difficult and does not have to wait for a diagnosis.
For a health referral, keep the referral date and provider name together. If no provider has been named, ask the person who made the referral where it was sent.
Related FamilyFX help
Do you support SEND families in Bristol?
If you are part of a charity, parent group, advice service, inclusive activity or another organisation supporting SEND families in Bristol, we would like to hear from you. Send us your website, the area you cover, who the service is for and how families can get in touch. We check submissions before deciding whether to add them.
Send us your detailsSources and checking dates
Local services change. We check the sources below and review any substantive change before altering the page.
- Bristol City Council, checked 13 August 2026
- Council for Disabled Children: find your local IAS service, checked 13 August 2026
- GOV.UK: special educational needs support, checked 14 August 2026
- NHS BNSSG ICB, checked 13 August 2026
- NHS: when to use 111, checked 14 August 2026