Consultation Document Summary

General Information

This will be a decade long reform programme and new legislation is not expected to come into effect until September 2029. Until then the current system – with its existing duties, rights, and funding routes – will remain in place
All children and young people who have a special school place in September 2029 will be able to stay in special school until the end of their education, unless they choose to move to a mainstream setting. Their EHCP and support will continue to be reviewed annually.
No child or young person will leave a special school or college placement as a result of these changes, unless they choose to do so.
Implementation will come in three phases that overlap: aligning to best practice from academic year 2025/26, preparing for SEND and curriculum reforms from 2026/27, and full implementation from 2028/29
Inclusion and high standards are at the heart of the education system – to achieve this the government propose to:
- strengthen the law to ensure evidence-based support for children and young people is provided early in mainstream settings so they can stay in education, achieve and thrive alongside their peers
- integrate support across health, care, and family services, ensuring children’s needs are identified and addressed as soon as they emerge
- increase upfront investment so support is readily available for classes and communities of children, rather than locked behind lengthy and bureaucratic individual assessment processes

The Universal Offer

The Universal offer will set a new baseline for mainstream education settings for children and young people aged 0-25
The Universal offer will include:
- ambitious leadership and governance that embed inclusion in planning
- evidence-based support prioritising early intervention
- high-quality teaching with curriculum designed for all learner
- accessible and enriching provision beyond the classroom
- a safe and respectful culture fostering belonging and attendance
- strong partnerships with families and wider services
- inclusive environments with continuous improvements to accessibility
Every school will be legally required to produce an Inclusion Strategy annually – this will replace the SEN Information Report. Ofsted will assess how leaders ensure the Inclusion Strategy is embedded in practice, and how staff are equipped to deliver it.
£1.6 billion Inclusive Mainstream Fund (over three years) to support mainstream schools to become more inclusive

Three Layers of Support

A system of three layers of support above the universal offer, with children able to access support across multiple layers and move up or down:
Targeted – Targeted support provides structured interventions within mainstream settings. This is predominantly in the classroom but where appropriate in the school’s Support Base which includes small group interventions based on evidence-informed strategies, delivered by school staff This may include small group interventions to develop language skills, or pre-teaching key vocabulary to help access the curriculum. Each child or young person will also have their needs and provision captured in a digital Individual Support Plan (ISP) (see below) reviewed regularly with them and their parents or carers to ensure that Targeted support removes the specific barriers to learning that persist despite the strong Universal offer
Targeted Plus – Targeted plus support provides help through the offer of support from Experts at Hand (see below) , improving access to professionals like speech and language therapists. It may also include accessing Inclusion Bases within mainstream settings. Groups of schools working together will help deliver Targeted Plus support where it is hard for one school to do so alone. Each child or young person receiving ‘Targeted Plus support’ will also have an Individual Support Plan (ISP) outlining their specific needs and expectations for ongoing support. They will have access to an ‘Inclusion Base’ (see below), where required, within their mainstream setting to provide bespoke learning environments and equipment and expertise to meet their needs. Targeted Plus support may involve time-limited support in an Alternative Provision (AP) or a specialist setting, which will allow pupils a short time placement for their needs to be assessed and addressed, before reintegrating back into a mainstream setting
Specialist – Children and young people who need the Specialist layer of support are identified as having ‘complex needs’. The Specialist layer will provide support through nationally defined Specialist Provision Packages (SPPs). The proposed Specialist Provision Packages are:
- Profound and multiple learning difficulties
- Significant executive function
- Complex executive function and communication
- Social and emotional development focused on externalising behaviour
- Social and emotional development focused on internalising behaviour
- Sensory impairment
- Physical disability
The provision set out in a SPP will underpin the entitlements in an EHCP
By sharing expertise and resources, mainstream and specialist settings will work in close partnership to provide ‘Specialist support’ to children and young people with the most complex needs
New nationally defined ‘Specialist Provision Packages’ designed by experts and tested with parents will outline packages of provision, based on evidence, to support children with the most complex needs.
In the future, only children and young people who need the overall package of support detailed in a Specialist Provision Package will be entitled to an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
The ISP will set out educational support needed for the child or young person, such as the requirement for weekly interventions with a speech and language therapist.
Access to ‘Inclusion Bases’, in particular ‘Specialist Bases’ will be available, where required

These three layers will be guided by the National Inclusion Standards (see below) which will set clear, evidence-based guidance for the Universal offer, as well as what Targeted, Targeted Plus and Specialist layers of support should look like across the 0-25 system.

Individual Support Plans

Settings will have a statutory duty to record and monitor special educational needs and provision in an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for children and young people with SEND. This will contain a digital record of the child’s needs and day-to-day support provided by their school and developed in partnership with parents
The government will use insights to develop digital solutions, including Individual Support Plans that address these challenges and build on best practice
They will place a duty on schools (including maintained nursery schools and school based nurseries) and colleges to produce an ISP for any child or young person with SEND
Requirement for ISPs to be reviewed annually at a minimum.
ISPs will be standardised across settings to facilitate transitions+
They will be used to communicate provision to parents and to document actions taken between parents and educators, supporting the relationship between home and the setting.
The use and quality of ISPs will be assessed through Ofsted’s inspections and assessment of SEND provision at a setting level.

National Inclusion Standards

By 2028 the DfE will produce National Inclusion Standards. These will include a digital library of high quality identification tools and provision across the 0-25 system covering all layers of support and making clear what good ordinarily provision should be in every setting. It will be the go-to place for educators to understand the latest evidence-based approaches to universal, whole-setting strategies, Targeted interventions, and identifying and responding to barriers to learning.

Experts at Hand Service

Access to more expert advice and services from education and health professionals (such as education psychologists or speech and language therapists) in mainstream education settings. £1.8 billion investment over the next three years to access professionals for early years settings, mainstream schools and colleges and will ensure local authorities spend this money on this purpose – this funding to be used in two ways:

LAs and ICBs to commission expert professionals to work directly with mainstream settings
LAs to support high-quality specialist settings to build the capacity of mainstream settings – This will include expanding outreach from AP, special schools, and special post-16 institutions

Inclusion Bases

Inclusion Bases will replace the current terms SEN unit, resourced provision and pupil support unit, and instead comprise of:
- Support Bases (setting/MAT funded, providing Targeted Support
- Specialist Bases (LA funded, providing specialist support).
Inclusion Bases will therefore combine access to the mainstream curriculum and activities – adapted where required – alongside bespoke specialist teaching and support.
The expectation is that every secondary school will have an Inclusion Base and there will be an equivalent number of places in primary schools

Updating the SEND Code of Practice

There will be an updated SEND Code of Practice which will clarify the responsibilities of education settings and local partners. There will be an improvement in the structure and accessibility of the SEND Code of Practice, making it easier to navigate and use in everyday practice.
There will be a refresh of the four broad areas of need – Renamed areas of development which will support early and dynamic needs-led provision, enabling educators to recognise and respond to the educational needs that are likely to present in a classroom or setting, described in terms that they know and understand
Proposed new areas of development should be: Executive Function; Motor and Physical; Sensory; Speech, Language and Communication; Social and Emotional

A full consultation of the revised CoP will follow.

Early Years

Children under five with complex needs will have a fast-track route to support
Expansion of Best Start Family Hubs to give families support within their community. There will be a SEND Practitioner in every Hub.
Early years educators across all settings will be able to access high-quality professional development through the national training programme building the skills and confidence to support children effectively.
All settings will be able to draw on education and health professionals through the new Experts at Hand offer addressing the inconsistent and limited access many settings experience today.
A new Inclusive Early Years Fund will be introduced from 2026/2027. There will also be funding to support new partnerships to strengthen transitions between early years settings and schools to enable the sharing of best practice to effectively manage children’s transition into reception.

The DfE are also improving the quality of teaching in the reception year, including through the new RISE Reception Networks, new training for reception classroom teachers, and continued funding for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme.

National Training

From September 2026, a new training package supported by £200 million over three years, will be available to all staff working across early years, schools and Post-16 settings to support staff to build inclusive learning environments
For staff in schools, training will focus on adaptive teaching and creating calm classrooms to provide the best support for their pupils. Specific training for teaching assistants will also help support inclusive practice. In Further Education, teachers will build on best practice to ensure learning is accessible for all, supporting the wider ambitions to establish a coherent, career-long professional development package, as set out in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper.
A review of the Early Career Teacher Entitlement in 2027 will have a focus on teaching children and young people with SEND
An extension of the Universal SEND Services training programme in schools and post-16 for a further year, which provides free training and resources to help strengthen inclusive practice.
There will be a new requirement set out in the SEND Code of Practice for all settings to ensure that staff receive training on SEND and inclusion, and to clearly signpost government funded training.
A review of the role of the school Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) will take place to ensure they can use their expertise more strategically

Curriculum

As set out in the Schools White Paper – Every Child Achieving and Thriving, the government are creating a new, world-leading school curriculum that raises standards and supports aspirations for all children.

The DfE will work in collaboration with experts and school leaders to create new Curriculum in Practice resources: a flexible suite of adaptive teaching strategies, case studies, and real-world examples tailored to different phases of education
Oak National Academy will continue to design digital resources that are easily adaptable by teachers to meet the specific needs of their pupils, including those with SEND
The DfE will work with experts to look at the curriculum in special schools, and further adaptions and flexibility for the mainstream curriculum

Transitions

Individual Support Plans will help ensure key information transfers smoothly to a child or young person’s next setting
Partnerships between early years and primary schools will help strengthen transitions, supported by the National Inclusion Standards
In Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life, the government committed to funding new partnerships to strengthen transitions between early years settings and schools, with a particular focus on children with SEND and additional needs
Schools, colleges and local authorities will co-design tailored transition packages for students with SEND
Additional pathways including Supported Internships, apprenticeships and improved links to Higher Education will help young people with SEND move into employment, independent living and adult life

Education, Health and Care Plans

New, improved EHCPs will guarantee statutory entitlements to the educational provision from the Specialist Provision Package that children and young people need and outline their expected outcomes. The proposals are:
- EHCPs will be developed with the setting, and in consultation with parents, after the Specialist Provision Package and placement decisions have been made, rather than beforehand, as happens now. They will include the educational offer based on the relevant Package, as well as health and care provision agreed during the assessment process
- The setting will have the legal duty to deliver the educational offer in an EHCP
- ISPs will set out the individually tailored day-to-day provision, and progress towards outcomes, which each child or young person will receive
- Local authorities (LAs) will retain overall ownership of an EHCP and their duties to provide sufficient placements and resources will be strengthened
- If a child or young person is assessed as not requiring an EHCP, the LA will be expected to work with the setting to ensure appropriate support is put in place
- There will be a strengthening of the needs assessment process so it is clearer, simpler and reflects the voice of parents/carers and the child or young person. The LA will coordinate the assessment process, which will include input from any experts who have supported the child or young person to date, and the responsible health commissioner will be required to identify and secure the relevant health provision required by the child or young person
- Introduction a standardised and digitised EHCP template, transferable across settings and LAs, to improve quality and consistency and be complemented by the NHS move towards digital-first service delivery
- An improved review process, so day-to-day provision in an ISP is reviewed regularly by the setting and the EHCP is reviewed at the end of key stages by LAs, who will ensure they bring in the right expertise and knowledge from experts
- The DfE propose retaining annual reviews by LAs for early years and post-16 EHCPs
A fast track for a Specialist Provision Package and EHCP for children under 5 who have been identified as having complex needs will be introduced
In the future, EHCPs guarantee the provision from the Specialist Provision Packages for children and young people with the most complex needs and clearly articulate the outcomes they should expect to achieve
Introduction of primary legislation to establish that only those who require a Specialist Provision Package will need an EHCP
Improved access to multi-agency support and the quality of social care input into EHCPs
From 2029-30, children with EHCPs will be assessed against the new threshold at the end of their phase of education.
All children in year three and above today will retain their existing EHCP until at least age 16. Children in year two or below today will be reassessed at transition between primary and secondary

Parental Preference

The DfE propose to maintain the legal principle known as ‘presumption to mainstream’, so that where a young person or parent with an EHCP indicates a preference for a mainstream setting, there will be strong legal duties on local authorities (LAs) to make this happen
The law will be amended so LAs are required to provide parents and young people with a list of settings able to provide the Specialist Provision Package
Parents and young people will have the right to choose any of these settings or express a preference for an alternative
Decisions will be made based on this preference as well as evidence of effectiveness, good value, and the needs of other children
Amendment to the current legal exception related to incompatibility with the ‘provision of efficient education for others’ so that LAs are not required to name a school or setting in an EHCP where it is already full or where this would have a seriously detrimental effect on children or young people already in the setting
Amendment to the current legal exception related to incompatibility with ‘the efficient use of resources’ to make it clear that weight must be put on the evidence of the effectiveness of the provision, value for money, and fairness in future decisions about placements
Parents will also continue to be able to appeal to the Tribunal if they disagree with an LA’s placement decision.

The Specialist Sector

The specialist sector comprises a wide range of settings including maintained special schools, non-maintained special schools, independent special schools (ISS), special academies, Alternative Provision (AP) schools, special post-16 institutions
By 2035 the DfE expect that the proportion of school children in a specialist placement will be higher than it is now, but that more of them – around a quarter – will be in commissioned Specialist Bases in mainstream schools
There will be a shift towards greater integration: specialist settings will become centres of excellence, driving inclusive practice through outreach and partnership with mainstream settings. With stable, predictable funding and stronger accountability, the sector will have the confidence to innovate and invest in high-quality provision, while families gain clarity and trust that support will be consistent, fair, and focused on outcomes. These changes will elevate the role of specialist settings, so they are a vital, collaborative force at the heart of an inclusive education system
There will be an expectation that all special schools, Alternative Provision (AP) and special post-16 institutions will:
- provide high-quality support and specialist education for children and young people with the most complex needs
- work in partnership with LA Commissioners to ensure parental engagement and the ongoing appropriateness of a placement for a child or young person
- act as catalysts for improvement by sharing expertise, coaching colleagues and contributing to joint professional development across the local authority area;
- strengthen the overall system by demonstrating how education, health and care can work together around the needs of the child or young person
- provide outreach and short-time placements for some children and young people enrolled in mainstream settings

Alternative Provision

Alternative Provision (AP) will offer three levels of support – outreach to mainstream schools, short-term placements for assessment and reintegration, and longer-term placements when needed. This will build on models that have been tested in our SEND Change Programme to encourage all registered AP schools to provide a three-tiered model of support:

Outreach into mainstream schools for specialist teachers and leaders in AP schools and to offer preventative support
Time limited placements, that will offer pupils a short time in an AP school or special school for social and emotional special educational needs for their needs to be assessed and addressed, which we expect will then allow them to return to their mainstream school
Longer term placements, where a child has been assessed as needing one of the Specialist Provision Packages commissioned in the AP school. Such placements will focus on supporting pupils into a more sustainable educational placement, with a particular emphasis on ensuring progression to appropriate post-16 provision and employment

This will be strengthen by:

Developing Specialist Provision Packages to provide consistent high-quality and evidence-based offers for those children and young people whose social and emotional development needs require ongoing support via a specialist placement, so they can achieve, thrive and secure a positive post-16 destination
Working with the sector on a more stable funding model for AP schools, recognising their role in providing both short and longer-term placements and for outreach
Ensuring the system supports AP schools to improve pupil transitions out of AP, via either a reintegration or transition plan or, where it is apparent that the child’s needs require ongoing, more specialist support, by triggering an assessment to access a Specialist Provision Package after a defined time period. This will ensure that placements in AP schools remain purposeful and outcomes focused
Legislating to correct the anomaly that some hospital schools and hospital education services cannot currently be funded for post-16 students

As well as AP schools, a range of non-school (unregistered) Alternative Provision settings offer targeted interventions. Where these settings are high-quality, they can play a valuable role in re-engaging children in education and supporting improved attendance as part of a planned approach. These settings are not currently regulated. The DfE will strengthen safeguards so that pupils remain on a school roll, and local authorities will be responsible for quality assuring non-school Alternative Provision against new national standards.

Independent Special Schools

The duties on Independent special schools (ISS) will be aligned with other special schools to ensure fair admissions, high-quality SEND support, financial transparency, and better value for money, so that children get the right placements without unnecessary costs
The DfE will also bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity to ensure LAs can pay a reasonable price for placements in ISSs

To ensure the role played by such settings is effective, DfE will also legislate to bring the duties and oversight of ISSs into line with other special schools by:

Creating a statutory definition and, via a separate consultation, standards for ISS
Aligning their admission duties with that of other specialist settings
Requiring them to offer placements based on Specialist Provision Packages and in accordance with national funding bands, and to adhere to the Code of Practice
Increasing the financial transparency of the sector by requiring ISS to report on costs to the commissioning local authorities
Giving the Secretary of State the power to refuse the expansion or opening of new ISS where there is limited evidence of demand from commissioning LAs.

Funding Reform

£200 million for Best Start Family Hubs

£1.6 billion for inclusion funding over the next three years

£1.8 billion for Experts at Hand

£3.7 billion capital funding to create tens of thousands of new places in Inclusion Bases in mainstream settings, make buildings accessible and create new special school places

£200 million for a national training package

A new system of pooled funding and local SEND groups of schools will support collaboration between schools, with collective resource used to deliver inclusive provision across the local area.
Schools and colleges will receive more funding for SEND in their core budgets. The funding that settings receive will be used to deliver the Universal offer and ‘Targeted’ or ‘Targeted Plus’, in line with new duties to plan for the needs of their overall cohort. Alongside this, mainstream settings will continue to receive high needs funding from local authorities which covers the costs of delivery of a Specialist Provision Package for those with the most complex needs, including through specialist bases.
The DfE propose to continue using proxies which correlate with SEND in the national funding formula (NFF), rather than funding identified SEND need directly.
To support the development of a more inclusive mainstream system, additional funding through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund will be provided to early years, schools and colleges to boost the existing core funding for SEND, with over £500 million per year over the next three years, and will ensure settings spend funding on this purpose. For schools, this will include publishing an Inclusion Strategy Report that covers how they are deploying their resources for SEND, including using existing resource and the additional Inclusive Mainstream Fund
Strengthening of existing local strategic SEND partnerships and strategic planning across the country as part of our reforms, working with schools, trusts and LA partners
In addition to improved collaboration across a local area, schools should work together to drive up the quality and scale of inclusive provision
Proposal that every school should be part of a local group to work together on SEND. All of these school groups will need to be actively engaged with the local authority and the Integrated Care Board (ICB) with the expectation that these groups may need to allocate exceptional funding from the inclusion share across their schools to account for uneven levels of need not captured by national funding formula allocations
Establish a fairer, more predictable and cohort-based funding model for Specialist Provision Packages
Review the formula for how high needs revenue funding is allocated to local authorities, including through a separate consultation with stakeholders
From 2026 to 2027, local authorities will receive new inclusive early years funding to distribute to early years providers
From 2029 to 2030, we will begin rebalancing high needs funding so that a greater share is available to early years settings upfront

Accountability

Creation of clear statutory duties for schools (including maintained nursery schools and school based nurseries) and colleges to ensure every child and young person receives timely, high-quality and effective support.
For children and young people receiving Targeted, Targeted Plus or Specialist support their school (including mainstream nursery schools and school-based nurseries) or college will have a legal duty to produce a digital Individual Support Plan (ISP)
A new pupil engagement framework will be launched in summer 2026
Update performance measures to recognise the schools which are securing good progress for all young people – consultation on a new performance measure, in addition to Progress 8, focused on the progress made by pupils who enter secondary school behind their peers, to better recognise schools which are successful in enabling and supporting the progress of all pupils.
Ofsted assessment of all settings for inclusion now introduced
Work with Ofsted to ensure that settings operating high-quality Specialist and Support Bases, and specialist provision in mainstream settings, are recognised and celebrated, while also being held to account for delivering inclusive provision
Strengthen the role of governing bodies and academy trust boards
Clearer roles and responsibilities for all partners and more collective responsibility for the outcomes of children and young people with SEND in a local area

Resolution and Legal Framework

Improve complaints and mediation processes, so disagreements are resolved faster and more collaboratively, reducing the need for an appeal to the SEND Tribunal (the Tribunal)
Families will retain the right to appeal to the Tribunal
Strengthening of the mainstream school and college complaints processes
Ensure that parent voice is a key part of the local partnership board
Seek to strengthen LA-commissioned but independent mediation services for decisions about specialist provision

There are 39 questions to be answered within the consultation document. You do not have to answer every question but this is your chance to shape the future of SEND.

Useful documents

SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First – Government Consultation

The School’s White Paper – Every Child Achieving and Thriving

Every child achieving and thriving and SEND consultation supporting information

Radical expansion in rights for children with SEND – Press Release

Specialist SEND support in every school and community – Press Release

Schools white paper: What parents need to know about changes to the SEND system – Blog Post