THE ROLE OF NON-MAINTAINED AND INDEPENDENT SPECIAL SCHOOLS FOR HEARING-IMPAIRED CHILDREN - COSTS AND CURRICULUM

This paper was prepared as a response to the Audit Commission/HMI reports ''Getting in on the Act'' and ''Getting the Act Together.'' It deals with the specific references made in those reports to fee levels and curriculum content in non-maintained and independent special schools. Eleven schools participated in the survey. The statistical accuracy of the Audit Commission/HMI reports is analysed, and the basis of some of the comparisons made in the reports is called into question. A copy of the paper was sent to the Audit Commission which, in subsequent correspondence, declined to comment on the source of its statistics for non-maintained and independent special schools. The paper was deliberately presented in the same format as the Audit Commission reports for ease of comparison.