The government’s schools white paper outlines plans to reform the SEND system, with proposals including a tiered approach to support, increased involvement from health professionals, and funding to make mainstream school more inclusive. We explore the changes

The government’s schools white paper sets out its long-awaited plan to reshape the SEND system, with earlier intervention, greater inclusion in mainstream schools and stronger input from health professionals at its core.

Demand for specialist provision has reached its highest level in decades, while increasing numbers of children are being educated in alternative provision or at home due to unmet needs. Yet with the right support in place, many children and young people with SEND can thrive in mainstream settings alongside their peers.

At the heart of the proposed reforms is a shift away from a system that is often slow, reactive and dependent on statutory assessments. Instead, the government aims to embed SEND support within mainstream education, ensuring help is available earlier, more flexibly and without families having to fight for it.

Backed by significant investment, including £1.6 billion to make mainstream schools more inclusive – the reforms prioritise early identification and intervention. Schools will be expected to meet commonly occurring needs through adaptive teaching, calm and supportive environments, and targeted 
group interventions.

When announcing the reforms, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the right support should never be a battle. He said: “No more ‘one size fits all’ system that only serves children who fit the mould. Instead, families will get tailored support built around their child’s individual needs, available on their doorstep.”

Three tiers of support

Central to the reforms is a new layered model of support, structured across three levels: Targeted, Targeted Plus and Specialist.

Targeted support will focus on early, evidence-based interventions delivered within mainstream schools. Where needed, this can be enhanced through “Targeted Plus”, drawing on expertise from education, health and care professionals via the new Experts at Hand service, as explained later.

For children with more complex needs, Specialist support will provide a higher level of provision. This will be underpinned by nationally defined Specialist Provision Packages, which will also form the foundation of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

Regardless of the level of support, every child identified with SEND will have a school-based Individual Support Plan. Developed in partnership with parents, these plans will outline day-to-day provision, adjustments and intended outcomes, ensuring support remains responsive as needs evolve.

Ofsted will also be assessing a school’s use and quality of Individual Support Plans. EHCPs will remain but an assessment will be made in three years’ time whether children’s needs can be better met with an Individual Support Plan in mainstream. This does not apply to children in special schools.

Funding inclusion

The new £1.6 billion Inclusive Mainstream Fund over three years will give schools and other education settings direct responsibility over funding, enabling them to plan for commonly occurring needs and encourage earlier and more effective support.

Rather than relying on formal diagnoses, schools will be able to invest in early interventions, such as language development programmes, small group support, staff training and adaptive teaching.

This includes programmes like NELI (Nuffield Early Language Intervention) and ELSEC (Early Language Support for Every Child) which help strengthen language development and early communication skills. 
  
Schools will be expected to demonstrate how they are prioritising inclusion. This includes publishing an Inclusion Strategy and embedding inclusive practices across teaching, curriculum design and the wider school environment.

A more connected system

A key feature of the reforms is closer collaboration between education and health services. The new ‘Experts at Hand’ support will help children for whom specialist input is essential to help them thrive in mainstream education or the specialist system.

Through the Experts at Hand initiative, schools will gain faster and more flexible access to professionals such as speech and language therapists and educational psychologists.

This approach aims not only to provide timely specialist input, but also to build confidence and expertise among school staff. Over time, it is expected to reduce reliance on formal referrals by enabling earlier, preventative support within mainstream settings.

To fund this support, the government will invest £1.8 billion over the next three years.

£1 billion will fund expert professionals to work directly with mainstream schools, improving early support without requiring an assessment or referral, while £800 million will build the capacity of mainstream schools through expanding outreach from specialist and alternative provision settings.

Crucially, schools will be able to use the Experts at Hand offer for pupils, regardless of whether they have an EHCP.

Consistency for complex needs

For pupils with the most significant needs, Specialist Provision Packages are intended to bring greater consistency to support across the country. These nationally defined, evidence-based frameworks will outline the interventions, resources and standards required.

EHCPs will continue to guarantee legal entitlement to support, but will be more closely aligned with these standardised packages, while Individual Support Plans will detail how provision is delivered day to day. E

Designing schools for inclusion

Alongside system reform, investment in school infrastructure aims to make mainstream settings more accessible. 
The DfE is investing £740 million in 2025-26 to create 10,000 more mainstream school and college places for children and young people with SEND.

Funding will support the creation of specialist bases within schools, as well as physical adaptations such as sensory spaces, improved ventilation and accessible facilities.

These changes are intended to ensure more children can attend local schools and participate fully in school life, with the right support available on site.

However, according to a recent NAHT member survey, almost half of leaders said specialist SEND facilities such as dedicated classrooms, sensory rooms and outdoor spaces were not fit for purpose (41 per cent) or closed (three per cent), highlighting the scale of the challenge.

In a recent NFER blog, Matt Walker, senior research manager noted that for inclusion bases to succeed, they need strong integration into everyday school life, collaboration between base staff and classroom teachers, sufficient funding and specialist staffing - as well as a whole-school commitment to inclusion.

This would allow inclusion bases to enhance what schools already do well. But without them, they risk reinforcing separation rather than inclusion.

Building workforce confidence

In the DfE’s School and College Voice survey from January 2025, less than three quarters of mainstream school leaders agreed or strongly agreed that their school could effectively support children with SEND or learning difficulties and disabilities despite many teachers being keen to expand their knowledge.

Recognising the pressures on staff, the government is investing in SEND training for teachers and school leaders. From 2026, all staff will have access to updated training materials, supported by a revised SEND Code of Practice that places greater emphasis on inclusion.

There will also be a new digital solution for handling complaints that will aim to simplify the process, improve coordination between multiple bodies, improve complaints data collection, and stop complaints being escalated through multiple avenues in parallel.

The DfE has said it will set out new mutual expectations for complaints handling with clear timeframes and update guidance to make clear to parents and the sector which organisation is best placed to consider specific complaints, to reduce complaints going to multiple organisations at once.

Overall, the white paper aims for a more proactive, inclusive and joined-up system, one designed to identify needs earlier, support children more effectively in mainstream schools and reduce the burden on families navigating the process.

As Helen Hayes MP, chair of the Education Committee, summed up: “While the current system may be broken, it is not beyond repair.”