Blog post Part of special issue: Key changes to SEND in England in the 2026 schools white paper
Key changes to SEND in England in the 2026 schools white paper: Will they make a real difference?
This blog post explores proposed reforms set out in the Department for Education’s white paper , their implications and how they respond to longstanding systemic pressures. The reforms are intended to widen rights and entitlements for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) learners, providing investment for teacher training, integrated services and support for key educational transitions. However, we argue that radical transformation is required of the foundational structures underpinning England’s education system to reify inclusion for every child. Unless curriculum, assessment and regulation are transformed fundamentally to accommodate every child’s holistic needs, the white paper proposals will make little or no difference and children with SEND will continue to experience systemic exclusion.
‘Unless curriculum, assessment and regulation are transformed fundamentally to accommodate every child’s holistic needs, the white paper proposals will make little or no difference and children with SEND will continue to experience systemic exclusion.’
A ‘radical expansion’ of rights: Overview of the proposals
The proposals include a clearer , to ensure more consistent access to support across England, intended to widen rights and entitlements for learners with SEND. They emphasise raising expectations of mainstream schools’ support for pupils with SEND, including clearer duties for parent collaboration. There are plans for new National Inclusion Standards, universal staff training, new support layers, Best Start Family Hubs and Individual Support Plans for all pupils with SEND.
Furthermore, with rising education, health and care plan (EHCP) numbers a major driver, the proposals aim to rebalance financial sustainability by addressing local authorities’ estimated £6 billion deficit in high-needs spending (Adams, 2025). Proposals include reducing postcode lotteries and improving school-level capability to provide earlier SEND support (Adams, 2025).
Coproduction with families is emphasised following years of parents’ battling to secure their children’s legal entitlement to support. However, rather than formalised ‘engagement expectations’, authentic collaboration is essential for cultural change (Thomas & Glazzard, 2025).
Importantly, the white paper recognises that meaningful SEND improvement requires investment in teacher training, integrated services and support for key educational transitions. However, unless curriculum, assessment and regulation accommodate every child’s holistic needs, the white paper proposals will not work.
Figure 1: Reactions from stakeholders
The need for structural reform
England’s school system is underpinned by which emphasise the role of education as positioning the nation favourably in the future global economy (see also Jones & Ball, 2024). This model separates learners into winners and losers, and too often makes casualties of learners with SEND. The current planned reforms merely tinker around the edges of inclusion, in our view; without deep structural change to the education system, children with SEND will continue to experience systemic exclusion.
Our key concerns
Making changes to EHCPs is a highly sensitive issue. Early commentary, including from Disability Rights UK (2025), notes suggestions that only pupils in specialist provisions or those requiring multiagency support will receive EHCPs. This has prompted widespread concern among parents, campaigners and local authorities. Forty-five per cent of parents of children with complex needs fear that their child’s support ‘will be taken away’ (Adams, 2026), yet many families view EHCPs as legal safeguards in a system they describe as ‘baffling and underfunded’ (Adams, 2026).
The defines inclusion as ‘… all staff supporting the learning, wellbeing and safety needs of all children, so that they belong, achieve and thrive’ (p. 39). We are concerned that this definition of inclusion is too limited. It places the onus on teachers to support children to thrive, but ignores that inclusion requires transformation of structures that underpin the education system. Current curriculum, assessment and regulatory systems fail to enable all children to achieve and thrive, and too often result in the systemic exclusion of children with SEND. We advocate for a more comprehensive definition of inclusion which places onus on policymakers to transform the education system in ways that will foster inclusion.
The white paper makes 20 references to achievement framed as academic achievement while describing inclusion and high standards as ‘two sides of the same coin’. also prioritises inclusion, achievement and standards. This conflation presents two major concerns. First, inspection is skewed against schools with high numbers of pupils with SEND; and second, emphasis on achievement merged with academic achievement unfairly disadvantages some children with learning and cognition difficulties.
Summary
The proposals in the white paper promise some changes. However, without fundamental transformation of curriculum, assessment and regulatory systems to meet every child’s holistic needs, these changes will make little or no difference to children with SEND, who will continue to experience systemic exclusion.
References
Adams, R. (2025, October 22). White paper on overhaul of Send provision in England put back to 2026. Guardian.
Adams, R. (2026, January 29). Parents in England fear losing support for disabled children due to Send changes. Guardian.
Disability Rights UK. (2025, October 23). Schools white paper pushed back to 2026.
Jones, B. M. A., & Ball, S. J. (Eds.). (2023). Neoliberalism and education. Routledge.
Thomas, S., & Glazzard, J. (2025). Special educational needs and disabilities of children in custody: A systematic review of international research. Review of Education, 13, article e70081.