Government signals major reform and extra funding for SEND in England

Commenting on the government’s proposals for reform of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in England, Luke Sibieta, Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said:

“The current system of support of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England is in desperate need of reform. Spending has nearly doubled in real terms over the last decade as numbers of children with SEND have continued to rise. However, despite all this extra spending, the quality of support is patchy and slow to arrive, and the system is characterised by bureaucracy and conflict.  

The government is today proposing a major set of reforms, with more funding and support provided upfront through mainstream schools – as already happens in Scotland and Wales.  

From 2029 onwards, there will be a gradual transition to a new system. The government will establish new guidelines for determining whether children move to a special school. Mainstream schools will also be expected to use these guidelines to assess children’s needs and place them into wider categories of support.  

In the meantime, the government is effectively building up new capacity in mainstream schools and local authorities, whilst leaving the current system of support via Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs) in place. This is an expensive approach in the short term. But the important test will be whether the system credibly delivers in the longer run, with better outcomes and control of spending.  

To build up this capacity, the government is providing about £1 billion in extra funding in 2026-27, rising to £1.5 billion per year in 2028-29 (in cash terms). This will cover extra money for mainstream schools to increase their offer for children with SEND, extra money for  local councils to increase the availability of specialists and funding for training teachers to support children with SEND. There will also be about £750 million per year in capital funding to adapt mainstream schools.  

While the government builds up capacity for the transition to a new system, they must also contend with large and growing spending pressures in the existing system. At the time of the Autumn Budget 2025, the OBR forecast that spending on SEND would exceed funding by about £6 billion. Partly as a response, the government has decided to increase the Department for Education budget by £3.5 billion in that individual year.  

This extra funding will go a long way to closing the gap forecast by the OBR. The government will also be hoping that providing more upfront support via mainstream schools helps slow the growth in spending compared with the OBR forecasts.  

Allocating extra funding in 2028-29 effectively reopens last year’s spending review, which was meant to set firm departmental spending levels through to 2028-29 (and to 2029-30 for capital spending). That may have knock-on implications for other departments, notably the Ministry of Defence, that are reported to be looking to increase spending. It also raises the possibility that this spring’s fiscal event will not be so small and policy-free as the Chancellor had initially promised.”