The head teacher of a special educational needs (SEN) school in Amersham fears that government changes to assessment will leave his students destined to fail.

Neil Strain, head of Stony Dean School, says the government’s “one size fits all” approach does not work for his pupils and will leave over 1,250,000 SEN students across the country struggling to achieve acceptable grades.

The school was hit with a blow this week after the news that two exam boards – WJEC and AQA – have removed functional skills qualifications, which are untaken by around a third of Stoney Dean’s students, from their programmes.

The qualifications, which Stony Dean offer in English and Maths, teach students how to carry out practical tasks such as how to pay bills, write a CV and read timetables.

Mr Strain said: “There are not many qualifications suitable for our students and the qualifications that are there are being phased out.

“The functional skills qualifications are there to enable our students to access wider society. So what can we offer them now?”

The removal of functional skills is the second obstacle Stony Dean have had to overcome this academic year after the government’s introduction of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) in September which could lead to the Stoney Dean losing their ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted rating.

In June the Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, said she wanted to bring in measures that would mean if schools did not have 100% of pupils studying the set of subject required for the EBacc – English, a language, maths, science and history or geography at GCSE – they would automatically lose their ‘Outstanding’ rating.

Stony Dean were awarded the top rating in November 2014 but confirmed that they do not and would not be offering the Ebacc to their students.

In an open letter to Ms Morgan, Mr Strain voiced his concerns about the effect changes would have on his students.

“We need recognise that students with SEN are diverse and should not be pigeon-holed into a low level of qualification,” writes Mr Strain.

“If we continue down this path, students with SEN will leave school with no recognisable qualifications and a bleak future ahead of them.

“They are being let down and underestimated in the name of ‘social justice’ and the government’s misguided view being able to sit an exam is the best way to prove your intelligence and level of ability.”

The Department for Education said that while they want as many students as possible to undertake the Ebacc, they do recognise that there are “situations where the Ebacc could not be suitable for students.”

They declined to comment further and said a consultation into the implementation of the Ebacc would take place in late autumn.