The UK government has released major proposals to overhaul the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in England. These are part of a new schools White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving. These changes aim to make support more inclusive, consistent and proactive, and to ease long-standing pressures on local authorities and mainstream settings.
In this blog, we have summarised the key points to keep educators informed about the proposals.
New Individual Support Plans (ISPs) for Every Child with SEND
Under the reforms, every child with SEND – including those without an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) – will receive a legally recognised Individual Support Plan (ISP) setting out the support they should get in school. The intention is to ensure support is carefully planned, tailored and reviewed for all students with additional needs, not just those with EHCPs.
This matters for schools because:
- Schools will take on responsibility for co-producing and implementing Individual Support Plans.
- Plans are intended to be more accessible and less bureaucratic than Education, Health and Care Plans.
- This approach is designed to ensure support remains responsive through a child’s education.
- The plan is to ensure needs are fully recognised and supported.
EHCPs will be for Children with the Most Complex Needs
Under the Government’s timeline, Education, Health and Care Plans will be for those young people the highest and most complex needs who require a ‘Specialist Provision Package’. After legislation takes effect, children currently with an EHCP will have a needs assessment as they near the end of each phase of education. At this point, the local authority will determine whether they require ongoing support through an EHCP or whether they will move to an Individual Support Plan. The majority of reassessments would be starting no earlier than 2030, and full changes by around 2035.
Educators need to know that:
- Education, Health and Care Plans won’t disappear, but fewer pupils will receive them in the long term.
- This shift reflects concerns about increasing EHCP numbers and funding pressures.
- Schools will need to ensure their Individual Support Plan processes are robust, and that they can deliver and monitor the quality of support effectively.
New National Inclusion Standards
By 2028, the Government will introduce a set of National Inclusion Standards. These will set out what all children and families can expect for SEND support in every mainstream school and help reduce regional variation in provision.
Educators should anticipate clearer benchmarks for:
- How needs are identified and responded to.
- The quality and consistency of interventions.
- How progress and outcomes are monitored.
Investment in Specialist Support and Capacity-Building
The Government’s reforms come with significant funding – up to around £4 billion over three years – aimed at strengthening SEND support infrastructure. This includes:
- Local ‘Experts at Hand’ services to support multiagency working with specialists such as speech and language therapists, educational psychologists and occupational therapists for mainstream schools.
- Funding for accessibility improvements, new specialist places and inclusion bases.
- Additional teacher training to ensure that every teacher can access the right professional development within the area of SEND.
What the Government’s SEND Reforms Mean for Educators
Here are some of the main points that educators should consider with regards to the SEND support announcement:
A Shift from Reactive to Preventive Support
The new system is designed to identify and meet needs earlier and within mainstream classrooms, reducing the number of Education, Health and Care Plan assessments (which can have long delays and variability). By giving every pupil with SEND a tailored plan, schools can offer support earlier with targeted strategies.
Individual Support Plans and Documentation
Individual Support Plans will require schools to:
- Set out clear short and long-term goals for pupils’ progress.
- Evidence how interventions are monitored and adapted.
- Ensure support aligns with national inclusion standards.
- This is a significant shift that will require carefully planned time, expertise and monitoring.
Accountability and Oversight
While Individual Support Plans are designed to have legal recognition, they do not carry the same legal enforceability as Education, Health and Care Plans. For families and settings, this means:
- Tribunal appeal rights remain for EHCP decisions.
- Individual Support Plan disputes will be handled through school and council complaints routes.
- Ofsted will also play a stronger role in monitoring how effectively schools implement inclusion standards and ISP requirements.
Change will Happen Over Time, Not Overnight
Implementation of the Government’s SEND reforms will take several years. Schools will continue to support learners with EHCPs and begin to introduce the evolving ISP framework through the late 2020s. Educators will be kept informed with evolving guidance and changes.
A Summary of the Government’s SEND Reforms
The UK’s latest SEND reform proposals represent a strategic reorientation of the system, setting out a move to a holistic and inclusive support network for every child with SEND. There will be clearer expectations through national inclusion standards along with an expansion of specialist support.
For educators, this means a move towards a more inclusive system, with an increased focus on SEND support, planning, monitoring and professional collaboration. With new guidance and changes to the system and support available to schools, this is an opportunity to shape how inclusive practice evolves in the years to come.
