Deaf statistics

There are more than 54,000 deaf children and young people in the UK.[1]

The number of deaf children across the nations is:

• England: 46,933 [1]
• Northern Ireland: 1,603 [1]
• Scotland: 3,558 [1]
• Wales: 2,227 [1]

More than 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, who may be completely new to deafness. [2]

Half of deaf children are born deaf. The other half become deaf during childhood. [3]

Levels of deafness

Every deaf child is different and may have different levels of deafness: 

• Unilateral (deafness in one ear): 22% [4]
• Mild: 25% [4]
• Moderate: 32% [4]
• Severe: 9% [4]
• Profound: 12% [4]

Even mild deafness can have a huge impact on a child’s education and wellbeing. [5]

Glue ear statistics

• 8 out of 10 children will experience glue ear before the age of 10. [6]

Hearing technology

• Hearing aids don’t fully restore hearing, but are vital for thousands of deaf children to make the most of the hearing they have.
• A cochlear implant is a type of implanted hearing device that converts sound into electrical signals. Cochlear implants are suitable for children with a severe to profound hearing loss.
• There are three other types of hearing implants; bone conduction hearing devices (also known as BAHA), middle-ear implants (MEI) and auditory brainstem implants (ABI).

Many children will also use radio aids to help them hear speech more clearly through unwanted background noises and when they're further away.

Communication

A breakdown of how deaf children communicate in school and education settings:

• 89% communicate using spoken language only [4]
• 2% use British or Irish Sign Language [4]
• 6% use sign language alongside a spoken language [4]
• 4% use other combinations or approaches [4]

Deaf children may use different language approaches when at home or with their friends. 

Schools

• 78% of school-aged deaf children in the UK attend mainstream schools where they may be the only deaf child. [4]
• 6% of deaf children attend mainstream schools with resource provisions – a resource provision provides specialist support to deaf children as part of a mainstream school. [4]
• 2% attend special schools for deaf children. [4]
• 13% attend special schools not specifically for deaf children. [4]
• 1 in 4 deaf children have a special or additional need alongside their deafness.[4]
• In England, around 1 in 5 deaf children have an Education, Health and Care plan. [7] 

Teachers of the Deaf

• Deaf children rely on specialist support from Teachers of the Deaf. There has been a 26% decline - over a quarter - in the number of qualified Teachers of the Deaf across the UK since 2011. [1]
• Across the UK, 48% of Teachers of the Deaf are due to retire in the next 10 to 15 years. [4]

Education

We believe that, with the right support, deaf children can achieve the same range as outcomes as their hearing peers. 

• In England, results from the early years foundation stage (EYFS) profile show from 2024 that 42% of deaf children achieved a “good level of development”, compared to 68% of all children. [8]
• GCSE results in England from 2024 show that 34% of deaf children in England achieved at least a grade 5 in both English and Maths in 2024, compared to 46% of all children. [8]

Sources

[1] Consortium for Research into Deaf Education 2024 UK-wide summary.

[2] Mitchell, R.E. and Karchmer, M.A. Chasing the Mythical Ten Percent: Parental Hearing Status of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in the United States. Sign Language Studies. 2004. 4: 138–163.

[3] Fortnum et al. Prevalence of Permanent Childhood Hearing Impairment in the United Kingdom and Implications for Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening: Questionnaire based ascertainment study. BMJ. 2001. 323:536.

[4] Consortium for Research into Deaf Education 2023 UK-wide summary.

[5] Archbold, S. et al. Experiences of Young People with Mild/Moderate Hearing Loss: Views of parents and teachers. 2015. Ear Foundation. 

[6] National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence. Clinical Guideline: Surgical Management of Otitis Media with Effusion in Children. 2008.

[7] Consortium for Research into Deaf Education 2024 England report 

[8] National Deaf Children’s Society briefing on government attainment data 2024.