To ask, if you’re a teacher

NHS task force which is pretty robust quotes 3-5% ADHD

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/report-of-the-independent-adhd-taskforce-part-1/

BMA , National Autistic Society and government says 1% for autism . Now even if they were double that due to the massive waiting lists that is still way off what some posters suggest and infer when trying to discredit autism diagnoses.

https://www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/population-health/improving-the-health-of-specific-groups/autism-spectrum-disorder

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/what-is-autism

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-strategy-for-autistic-children-young-people-and-adults-2021-to-2026/the-national-strategy-for-autistic-children-young-people-and-adults-2021-to-2026

SENDCO here... in my school (primary, deprived area) I'd estimate as 5-7 in each class, possibly more in others.

I'm in a mainstream tiny village school and teach y6. Usually more than 50%, one year was 75%

It's hard to answer as diagnosis can take a long time. I have 29 kids in my class of 9-10 years olds and there are loads I suspect to be ND, maybe about 8. Many of their parents suspect their kids to be ND but I don't need it at school.

Where I live there is no sharing of this kind of information, if I want my children's teachers to know about their diagnoses I have to tell them all individually. Even at primary school, that's 5-7 different staff members.

Most of the time this is a pain, but with my older son where he doesn't need a lot of support at school and the school system he is in is totally archaic, I have not mentioned it to most of his teachers and my assumption is that it's served him better, because I assume that a lot of his teachers may have old fashioned views about neurodiversity. However TBH when it has come up, that has never been the case at all, so I don't really know why I have made those assumptions.

I work in a non selective private school. Our numbers are so high- at least 40 pc diagnosed with SEN. Numbers are dropping though- so many leaving to go to the state system as VAT driving them out. It's sad and I fear how they will fare in such a larger school. But that threads been done to death!

In my current year3/4 class I have 27 children, 2 on waiting lists for adhd and autism, 3 with formal diagnosis of autism or adhd and a further 2 who have behaviours/traits that could indicate these but have chaotic/abusive home lives and no sleep/trauma so very hard to diagnose

i have a further 2 on my Sen register for dyslexia (1 diagnosed 1 not) and 1 on the Sen register for speech/language.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question, and I wonder if wealth cushions to a certain extent. For instance, we hear of 'eccentric' wealthy people who require lots of rules and special treatment, but poorer people aren't allowed the luxury of being eccentric, if that makes sense. Ive always thought that money buys people accommodations, like the ability to have a personal assistant which many people with ND conditions would thrive if they had!
Edit for spelling

A school I trained in had 21 out of 30 students were on support plans for autism/adhd. Unsure how many were officially diagnosed

I often see the ‘1%’ quoted, but my anecdata is a lot higher than this.

Where on earth are you seeing 1% quoted ?
It hasn't been that low for decades.

As a (still serving) teacher this is always a fascinating question and the actual SEN support system, such as it is, is supposed to be based on needs anyway.

I am aware of research that found that randomly picking some students as "more able" meant teachers spent more time and attention on then and they achieved more.

Just a theory but Autism and ADHD have strong genetic links. Quite likely at least one parent may have one or another and have struggled with school/work themselves, leading to less successful outcomes.

I teach KS1 so fewer with diagnosis as they are younger. Only one diagnosed with autism. Two on waiting list for ADHD assessment. One other that displays many traits of ADHD. I have two autistic daughters and can already see another four children in the class that I wouldn't be surprised if they were assessed at a later stage. Some of the above children and a couple of others also show many signs of dyslexia. This is more than I usually observe but I would be surprised if there were fewer than 5 ND children in any "average" class of 30.

This is reflective of trends across the population - you tend to get more ND/SEN where there is poverty/deprivation, as well as general delays in development and lower educational attainment generally. It could be generational, as ADHD/ASD are highly heritable meaning parents may have struggled with education/employment themselves due to their own (probably undiagnosed) ND.

It might also be that signs are overlooked more easily in a child who is in an affluent, stable household with abundant resources and is otherwise developing well, so things like ADHD and "Aspergers" type autism make themselves known later, whereas a child who is growing up in a chaotic household with struggling parents and far fewer resources, less stable routine, more reliance on things like screen time might have more obvious outward signs from a younger age and/or might have more contact with professionals who could pick up that something isn't typical earlier on.

I'm long since retired from teaching, but when I was in a private senior school in the 00's I would have had no information as to who was and who was not.

Now, the interesting question would be whether the educational experience would be better or worse with more knowledge

Yes those are population figures, and not relating to SEN as a whole. SEN as a whole is estimated to be about 20% from various sources. It tends to vary hugely across different schools, though.

And yes I agree the answers are surprising.

Class sizes will also be higher than 25, usually. 30 was standard when I was at school (90s/00s, England) but from what I've seen on MN they are frequently over 30 now.

Varies each year. This year my 26% of my class have been diagnosed with ASD or ADHD. 46% of my class are on the SEN register.

Where did you get 1% from? ADHD is thought to be about 5% (some say up to 8% but I am dubious about this) and Autism is meant to be closer to 3% now. So you'd be looking at 1 autistic child and 1-2 ADHD children in an average classroom although it's also possible to have both.

For me it varies by class - top sets I tend to have maybe 2/30 with asd max, but often lots of semh and anxiety needs, not much adhd. Lower sets tend to be much more send heavy, particularly adhd. I have a year 20 class of 16 pupils and all but 3 have adhd. Obviously a generalisation based off my own experience.

In the Y6 class I taught today, there was one child with an autism and ADhD diagnosis. I suspect there is at least one other child with autism in that class, another with selective mutism, who is also dyslexic and possibly autistic, and 7 or 8 more who have undiagnosed ADHD, to the extent that their learning is affected ( as is that of the children around them). That is not unusual, IME.
Most teaching and staff can spot these and do their best to be inclusive and have all children reach their learning potential. However, whilst in my school we do follow best practice and quality teaching, none of us can meet the complex and varied needs of the children alone. It is a constant balancing act, dealing with emotional and mental health needs of all the students whilst delivering a full curriculum that challenges all children, and also dealing with the usual minor scrapes after outside play and health issues ( no school nurse to administer plasters/inhalers) and the more serious issues such as bullying and following that up and documenting it. I can't speak to a child discreetly about what happened at playtime and ascertaining whether it is serious or not, whilst actually teaching a lesson. We need to have more support staff, and I suspect every single state school would say the same. We can't do more without funding. Some of my colleagues have spent every single lunchtime this week dealing with issues between students, as well as missing all their PPA. They might receive more SEN training but when can they put it into place? There is a limit to how much one teacher in a class of 30 children can do.

Varies class by class and I’m having to include adhd and autism, but I have a year 8 class that has 2/28, a y9 class that has 10/25, and a y10 class with 9/31.

Y2 TA, so most kids haven't hit the magic age of 7 needed for an ADHD diagnosis.
1 diagnosed
4 on the pathway for assessment
Multiple other diagnoses, and several children have experienced or continue to experience trauma.
So much support needed for so many of the kids in my class to feel safe and regulated enough to even begin to engage with learning.