Students at residential schools in England receive free dental, vision and hearing checks

Young people with disabilities and additional needs in residential schools and colleges will soon be offered free hearing, dental and vision checks from the NHS.

NHS sensory checks, piloted by the government in 2022 and 2023, will be rolled out to educational settings across England from next year.

Autistic children and people with learning disabilities are more likely to have hearing, vision and dental problems than their peers.

The program is expected to reach approximately 18,000 students.

Tom Cahill, the national director of learning disabilities and autism at NHS England, said the new checks would ensure any problems are identified quickly.

“Mainstream services can sometimes struggle to meet the needs of autistic children and young people, or those with severe learning disabilities, so these new sensory checks in residential special schools will provide the support they need,” he said .

“Having specialist services that take into account an individual’s reasonable adjustments, supported by people who know him or her well and delivered by well-trained staff, will ensure they have access to sensory checks that other children and young people routinely to get.”

Annual eye checks will be performed and at least one annual face-to-face dental check-up will be offered, with health advice and prevention visits also offered.

The Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, said the checks would help tackle health inequalities and provide faster access to support.

“I am pleased that we can support essential sensory checks for all students in special education settings, in an environment that is comfortable and familiar to them,” he said.

“These checks allow health problems to be identified more quickly in approximately 18,000 children and young people.”