A new Education Select Committee report is calling for urgent reform of SEND support in schools, warning the system is near collapse without major investment.
Published today (18th September), the report shows the number of children in England identified with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has soared over the last six years.
In 2019 the figure stood at 1.3 million however, this year it has climbed to 1.7 million. What’s more, in 2024/25 over 1.2 million school pupils were receiving SEND support, with almost half a million holding an education health care plan (EHCP).
Helen Hayes, chair of the Education Committee, explained the report’s findings show a cultural shift is needed across the sector, backed by investment in training and staff, which will enable schools to be genuinely inclusive.
Speaking to Social Care Today, she said: ‘This report offers the government a blueprint for transforming the SEND system. This inquiry is based on eight months of listening to evidence from professionals in education and the NHS, from young people and families and a range of experts. It is also informed by best practice we have seen for ourselves at mainstream schools in England that provide genuinely inclusive education for children with SEND, as well as from settings in Ontario, Canada.’
‘We say that inclusivity can be achieved by properly equipping front line professionals with skills to meet the needs of children with SEND, improving early identification, adapting school buildings and having genuine accountability throughout the system – not just for families with an EHC plan,’ Helen continued. ‘Our recommendations require investment in the short term but will deliver long term sustainability and help to rebuild trust that too many families have lost in the system.’
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, autism has become the most commonly identified need in EHCPs, accounting for over a third of cases, the report found. MPs also highlighted sharp rises in speech, language and communication needs, as well as social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
News of the report comes ahead of the government’s plan to publish recommendations on how to reform SEND provision in England this autumn. As such, MPs are calling for EHCPs to not be axed – a decision the government previously refused to rule out.
Against this backdrop, cross-party MPs have made several suggestions to the Department of Education which include:
- Establishing new statutory national minimum standards for what support schools should offer on special educational needs at all levels of need
- Investing more in state specialist schools
- More SEND training for current and future mainstream school staff, including headteachers
- Increasing per-pupil SEND funding in line with inflation
Rachel Filmer, co-founder of Save Our Children’s Rights, told Sky News her organisation has welcomed the recommendations outlined in today’s new report, which can be accessed in full here.
She added: ‘It is vital that children retain the right to statutory plans, to individualised support and to specialist school placements if this is in the child’s best interests.’
Photo by Sam Balye via UnSplash
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