Educational Psychology Services Are ‘Grossly Underfunded’, Our Report Reveals
21 January, 2025
Summary
We are thrilled to release the SCG Educational Psychology Workforce Insights Report 2024, a report which delves into trends within educational psychology, funding and resources, industry challenges, policies and legislation and the future of educational psychology.
The report details insights and opinions garnered from Educational Psychologists in both local authorities and private practice in 2024.
Our findings noted a lack of funding within educational psychology and its subsequent effect on children and young people requiring the support of Educational Psychologists.
One Educational Psychologist stated, “EP services are grossly underfunded given the demand for them from schools and parents. The EHC (Education, Health and Care) system has contributed to this and has arguably restricted and de-skilled the profession as statutory assessments have come to dominate workloads.”
According to our report, 35% of Educational Psychologists say the demands of their role ‘always’ exceed the time and resources available to them. When delving into this, the number of children needing support exceeding the number of available Educational Psychologists, was acknowledged as a reason.
One Educational Psychologist stated, “The Code of Practice needs updating, expectations don't match reality, huge groups of young people whose needs are not being met and who are getting lost in the system or are missing from education entirely.”
The use of technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) was also a hot topic within our report with respondents suggesting that AI could be used to summarise data into written reports. As suggested however, in a sector where data protection is of utmost importance, it can be beneficial for a human being to oversee the work produced by Artificial Intelligence.
Despite the challenges within the sector, it is encouraging to see from our findings that Educational Psychologists are dedicated to the important role they play for children and young people.
One Educational Psychologist said, “I can make a real difference for children, teachers and parents who feel confused, upset and worried about their children’s needs, development and progress.”
Download and read the full SCG Educational Psychology Workforce Insights Report 2024 by entering your email address at the top of this page.
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