Special Educational Needs: Finance and Training
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that adequate (a) training and (b) funding is made available for schools to meet the needs of children with physical challenges requiring individualised support.
Answered by Georgia Gould
The government is committed to strengthening the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system to help improve outcomes for children and young people.
The department has published allocations for £740 million high needs capital in 2025/26. This funding is intended to create facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.
Funding for schools is increasing by £4.2 billion by financial year 2028/29, compared to this financial year 2025/26. This additional funding will provide an above real terms per pupil increase on overall schools funding, which will take per-pupil funding to its highest ever level and enable us to transform the SEND system. We intend to set out plans for reforming the SEND system in further detail in the coming months.
The department has recently commissioned the Council for Disabled Children to produce new guidance for schools on their duties towards their disabled pupils under equality law, including a new handbook on their accessibility duty, available here: https://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/files/Accessibility%20plans%20and%20the%20Equality%20Act%202010%20A%20handbook%20for%20schools.pdf. We have also commissioned a forthcoming training package to complement that guidance.
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