Upcoming SEND Reforms: a summary for schools and parents

In brief

The Government has proposed a significant overhaul of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system. The reforms aim to shift the burden of SEND support into mainstream education, reducing reliance on Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and widely replacing them with a new system of tiered support. Whilst the ambition is to make support faster and more accessible, the changes carry important legal and practical implications for both schools and families.
A new "universal offer" raises the baseline for all mainstream schools, with new inclusion standards, teacher training, and annual Inclusion Strategies assessed by Ofsted.
A tiered support model replaces the current framework, with every child receiving an ISP and EHCPs reserved only for those with the most complex needs.
ISPs carry less legal weight than EHCPs: they are not enforceable or appealable to the SEND Tribunal, potentially increasing the burden on internal complaints procedures and discrimination claims against schools.
Full implementation is not until 2028/29: the SEND Code of Practice remains in force in the meantime, and schools should plan ahead.

What are the proposed SEND reforms?

In reform plans billed as "radical" by the Department for Education, the Government's Schools White Paper, "Every child achieving and thriving", was published in February, alongside its consultation paper on SEND reforms. The White Paper sets out proposed major reforms to the SEND system in the UK, prompted by a recognition that the current framework is not working effectively and is putting local authorities under unsustainable financial burden.

Since the publication of the White Paper, there has now been a change in Government leadership, with Andy Burnham as Prime Minister and Lucy Powell as Secretary of State for Education. At this stage, it remains to be seen whether this change will result in any amendment to the proposed SEND reforms, although media commentary suggests it is unlikely the new leadership will depart significantly from the proposed reforms.¹

The Universal Offer

The proposed reforms are stated to be designed to equip mainstream schools to enable all children, including those with SEND, to participate and be supported in mainstream settings, thereby creating a more inclusive education system.

The Government's SEND consultation paper presents this as a "universal offer". This is:

A universal standard described as "a new baseline for mainstream education settings" that "will raise standards for all" and "[place] inclusion at the heart of everyday practice".
Among other things, the "Universal offer" promises a high-quality curriculum designed for all learners; strong partnerships with families and wider services; and inclusive environments with continuous improvements to accessibility.
A further £200 million over 3 years will also go towards a new training programme for teachers, to ensure that all staff (not just those specialising in children with SEND) are well placed to provide the correct support to all students within mainstream schooling.

What is clear is that schools will bear more of the responsibility for supporting children with SEND. Schools will be held accountable for this: they will be required to produce annual Inclusion Strategies (instead of the current SEN Information Report framework), which will be subject to assessment by Ofsted.

Beyond the "universal offer", the key reforms are as follows:

Three tiers of support: Targeted, Targeted Plus and Specialist

The Government envisages that most children will be well-supported by the "universal offer", but sets out a tiered model of targeted support for those with additional needs. All children with SEND will now be required to have an ISP in place, and the nature of that plan will
determine the tier of additional support required, if any. The idea is that the layers work flexibly: children may be referred to different levels of support as their needs change, as identified by their school and in collaboration with their parents.

Targeted: the initial tier, "Targeted" support, may include small group learning or the implementation of reasonable adjustments like the provision of laptops for children with dyslexia, for example.
Targeted Plus: at the "Targeted Plus" level, children will have access to SEND professionals like speech and language therapists, and specialist "inclusion bases" (as explained below).
Specialist: children with the most complex needs will receive "Specialist" support through a Specialist Provision Package, which will inform their EHCP. EHCPs will be reserved for children in the "Specialist" support category and " will continue to set out the statutory entitlement to support for children and young people, with Individual Support Plans describing the day-to-day provision delivered in schools".

New statutory duty for ISPs

As noted above, a new statutory duty for all education settings (early years, schools and colleges) will be introduced, so that every child with SEND must be provided with a digital ISP, to be kept under annual review. This is coupled with more robust avenues of holding schools accountable for their use of ISPs: their usage and quality will be considered by Ofsted, and a revised complaints procedure will allow parents and young people to more easily raise concerns about an ISP.

However, they would not be legally enforceable and the ISPs themselves would not be appealable to the SEND Tribunal, albeit parents could bring claims for disability discrimination and failure to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.

Introduction of "inclusion bases" and Experts at Hand

Not all children with SEND will require the additional support available through the tiered system. The Government's plans centre around bolstering what is offered to students at the mainstream level, equipping schools to support children with SEND without isolating them from their regular school experience (which can then be supplemented by the tiered levels of support if needed).

Two new offerings are the introduction of "inclusion bases" and the Experts at Hand programme. Inclusion bases are purpose-built spaces for specialist teaching and support, which the Government plans to introduce in all secondary schools and a corresponding number of primary schools.

Backed by a £1.8 billion investment, Experts at Hand will also provide access to professionals such as educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, and occupational therapists to mainstream schools, with a view to making it faster and easier to access specialist intervention at an early stage.

Changes to EHCPs

EHCPs will now be reserved for children who require the highest level of "Specialist" support. EHCPs will be digitalised, and will be complemented by a child's ISP. The aim is that, going forward, the Government's new offerings will support most children sufficiently without the need for them to have an EHCP in place. The requirement for every child with SEND to have an ISP, combined with access to the Experts at Hand programme, inclusion bases, and more inclusive teaching (supported by specialist training for teachers across the board), should reduce the number of children still requiring an EHCP to meet their needs.

From 2030, existing EHCPs will be subject to review, to identify pupils in mainstream schools who may be ready to transition away from them at a natural point in their learning. Children and young people who have a special school place in September 2029 will be able to stay in the special school setting until the end of their education, unless they choose to move.

EHCPs remain legally enforceable.

Timing

Currently, schools are expected to follow the SEND Code of Practice, as last updated in September 2024. This will remain the case until the Government's proposals have been formally legislated, with full implementation expected from the 2028/29 academic year.

The Government has set out the following timeline for the proposed changes:

Phase 1 (academic year 2025/6 to 2026/7): schools will be assisted in "aligning to best practice and higher standards" with the provision of new guidance and SEND capital investment.
Phase 2 (academic year 2026/7 to 2027/8): "significant investment" in schools, combined with the launch of the new national curriculum in 2027; the SEND Workforce CPD; and National Inclusion Standards, will prepare schools to align with the new SEND reforms.
Phase 3 (academic year 2028/9 onwards): SEND reforms are to be implemented in full.

The key takeaways for parents are:

The reforms are intended to make SEND support easier and faster to access, meaning that most children with SEND should be able to thrive in a mainstream environment without having to engage in lengthy, complex processes to get the help they need.
Whilst children with SEND will be legally entitled to an ISP, these plans will not carry the same legal weight as EHCPs (access to which will become more limited). Challenges to an ISP will have to be made internally or through local authority procedures, as opposed to going through the Tribunal.
Support already in place for your child will not be unilaterally removed. Even if your child's needs are not complex enough to warrant an EHCP under the new plans, their current EHCP will still remain in place until 2030 at the earliest.

The key takeaways for schools are:

Schools should start planning ahead to help staff understand the new framework, how it will be implemented, and assess where there may be gaps in service provision.
Given the heavily increased administrative burden on schools with, for instance, ISPs and associated record-keeping, schools should consider to whom those responsibilities will fall and whether staff have sufficient capacity.
Whilst schools should look ahead to implementation, they should be reminded that the reforms are yet to be legislated and are not likely to take effect before 2029 – schools should be mindful not to make changes to children's care prematurely, and to continue complying with the SEND Code of Practice in the meantime.
The onus to (i) identify the necessary support for children with SEND; and (ii) provide the same, will lie with schools. The majority of children with SEND will have ISPs, rather than EHCPs which will be focused on the most complex needs. As ISPs are not challengeable in the SEND tribunal, schools could see a rise in complaints and disability discrimination claims.

¹How will prime minister Andy Burnham ‘change’ education?