Radical expansion in rights for children with SEND

Government pledges major reform of SEND system

The government has today [23 February 2026] pledged to end the one‑size‑fits‑all education system that it believes has traumatised too many families and damaged the lives of too many children. This comes as part of broader reforms to improve outcomes for children with SEND.

A New Legal Right to Individual Support Plans

Currently, over 70 percent of children in England’s schools with additional needs don’t have any legally enforceable rights. This is more than one million children. The government says it will introduce a new legal requirement for schools to create Individual Support Plans (ISPs) for all children with SEND.

Each ISP is intended to be guided by a national framework of interventions and personalised by the teachers and specialists who work with each child.

The government has committed a multi‑billion‑pound investment into services like speech and language therapy and small group teaching in schools. It believes that this funding will mean the support ISPs set out will be easily available, without a fight.

EHCPs retained and strengthened

EHCPs are set to be retained and improved under plans in the government’s Schools White Paper. The government says this will give children access to more intensive or complex support than schools can usually provide.

It believes that a triple lock of transitional protections will mean no child loses effective support already in place:

• children with a special school place in 2029 can keep it until they finish education
• transitions from EHCPs to ISPs in mainstream schools won’t begin until 2030, and only as pupils naturally change phases
• ISPs will be ready before any child moves from an EHCP, ensuring no break in support.

It comes as the White Paper sets out a decade‑long mission to make every child and family feel engaged and included in an education system broad enough to meet all children’s needs. The government believes that these reforms create opportunity for every child to achieve, thrive and get on in life.

Education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said:

“I believe – and this government believes – that background shouldn’t mean destiny. How a child grows up shouldn’t dictate where they end up.

“The SEND system designed ten years ago for a small number of children is now broken. Parents end up fighting tooth and nail for entitlements on paper that don’t see them getting additional support. Children’s educations and lives have suffered.

“Today’s plans will take children with SEND from sidelined and excluded to seen, heard and included. Every child will get the brilliant support they deserve, when they need it, as routine and without a fight.”

Wider reforms include:

• EHCPs and ISPs will both be digitised to reduce bureaucracy and increase transparency
• the school complaints process will be updated, with an independent SEND expert added to panels where ISP decisions are in dispute
• EHCP support will be based on a Specialist Provision Package, similar to clinical pathways in health, to improve national consistency
• draft packages will be published later this year, co‑designed with parents and experts, guiding provision in mainstream and special schools
• children with EHCPs will also receive an ISP outlining how their package will be delivered day to day.
• independent special schools will be brought under a new regulatory regime to ensure high‑quality provision at a fair price

Transitional protections and parental choice

Transitional protections mean that no child in year 3 now, or older, will move on to an ISP if they don’t want to until the end of secondary school. However, the government believes many will see the new system as an improvement and choose to make the switch.

Families moving from an EHCP to an ISP when transitioning between primary and secondary school will have the option to select their preferred school, the government says.

SEND Tribunal and complaints system

The SEND Tribunal will continue to act as an important legal backstop in the system. Under the new reforms, parents will still be able to appeal decisions. This includes: whether a child should be assessed for a specialist provision package, which package they should receive, and which school the child should attend.

The reforms are also intended to strengthen mediation services and the complaints process to resolve disputes earlier and more collaboratively.

The White Paper includes funding and resources to improve SEND provision across schools:

• every classroom will have staff trained to meet SEND needs, supported by £200 million of investment
• every school will receive inclusion‑grant funding to deliver programmes like small‑group speech and language support
• every secondary school is expected to have an inclusion base, funded through £3.7 billion to create over 60,000 specialist places
• every town will have access to “Experts at Hand”, providing support such as educational psychologists for children with more complex needs

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, which represents leaders in the majority of schools in England, said: 

“We welcome the publication of the government’s White Paper today, and are optimistic that it contains the foundation of a successful new approach to education and support for children with SEND. 

“Success will require sufficient funding and availability of support services and we are pleased to see new money committed to the plans and ambitions to expand support services. 

“Parents, teachers and school leaders will now assess if the commitments are sufficient to ensure success.” 

Children’s commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, said: 

“Children with additional needs and their families deserve clarity, so I welcome this commitment for a system that wants to prioritise children’s rights – instead of one that has failed them for far too long.

“Families will understandably be anxious about what this moment of change will bring, but this is an opportunity to move to a system that acknowledges that every child, at some point in their lives, will require help and support. It’s an opportunity to rebuild trust with families and offer children greater ambition, instead of telling them they are the problem. 

“Under these plans, no child should fear losing support. I will be working closely with ministers and families over the coming months to make sure that becomes a reality.” 

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:  

“We commend the ambition of the government’s white paper to create an education system which is more inclusive and works better for children with special educational needs. Our schools and colleges already deliver a high standard of excellence, but too many children who face the greatest challenges lack the level of support they need and deserve because of long-standing problems with the current SEND system. 

“The government’s plan to build more support in mainstream schools, invest in professional development, prioritise early intervention, and provide better access to educational psychologists and speech and language therapists is the right way to go. 

“ASCL will work in partnership with the government to turn this vision into reality, striving to overcome any obstacles, and to ensure that these reforms work from the ground-up rather than top-down with schools and colleges in the driving seat of shaping excellent and innovative provision which will genuinely enable inclusivity for all.” 

Amanada Allard, Council for Disabled Children, said: 

“We welcome the scale of vision contained in the White Paper which has the potential to create an education system that fully values children and young people with additional needs and their families.  

“We also welcome the commitment to retain statutory Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for children and young people whose needs cannot be met through this new model. We know that many parents will welcome the legal requirement for schools to create Individual Support Plans (ISPs) for all children with SEND.   

“At the same time we know they will be concerned to understand how accountability will work.  the consultation launched today is an opportunity to clarify those details ensuring families have clear routes to action where these ambitions are not being delivered.”

NFER’s co-head of UK Policy and Practice, Jude Hillary, said:

“We have long called for changes to the measurement of pupil disadvantage to ensure that funding is accurately targeted at those most in need and to close the attainment gap. We are pleased that the Government has listened to NFER’s calls to develop a new measurement of disadvantage, such as our proposals to explore a household income-based measure.

“While we welcome the Department’s ambition to close the disadvantage attainment gap, there needs to be a concerted focus – with commensurate resources – on supporting disadvantaged pupils if the Government is to achieve its goal of reducing the gap by 50 per cent.

“We have highlighted how transitional arrangements, introduced as part of the Universal Credit roll out, and other anticipated changes to free school meal (FSM) eligibility will make it “almost impossible” to continue tracking the disadvantaged attainment gap over the next decade. It is crucial the Department reviews how the disadvantaged attainment gap is measured going forward alongside reviewing funding arrangements, this could include exploring the household income-based disadvantage measure.  Adapting the way the gap is measured is critical to ensuring that progress against this new ambition can be adequately and robustly assessed.

“We also welcome the Government’s proposed review of funding arrangements for targeting support towards disadvantaged pupils. However, careful consideration will be required to ensure proposals are feasible in practice.”