Special Educational Needs

The department is delivering a new, world-leading school curriculum that raises standards for all children and embeds inclusion for all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), or need additional stretch.

To support the development of a more inclusive mainstream system, we are investing £500 million per financial year over the next three years through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF) to support schools, colleges and early years settings with upfront funding to help them move towards becoming more inclusive by design.

We have published guidance for school leaders on how to develop an Inclusion Strategy and use their IMF allocations alongside core budgets to more effectively invest in inclusive approaches and activities that address barriers to learning and participation.

Additionally, we are giving teachers better tools to identify and support needs early, while ensuring specialist settings meet the needs of pupils with the most complex needs. To support this, on 16 January the government announced a new training package, backed by £200 million of new funding, so that all teachers, educators, teaching assistants, support staff and leaders across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with SEND.

The department is also investing around £1.8 billion over three years in a new Experts at Hand offer, providing mainstream settings with access to specialist expertise from health and education professionals to strengthen staff capability, improve support for pupils with SEND in the classroom, and enable earlier intervention where needs arise.

We will support schools to respond to pupils’ learning and development needs with evidence‑informed resources, helping make mainstream education more inclusive and improving outcomes. This aligns with our commitment to deliver a high‑quality, ambitious curriculum for every child, including those with SEND.