For many families of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), the education system has often felt like a constant battle. Securing an assessment can take months. Finding the right school may involve travelling long distances. Even when support is agreed, many parents continue to fight for the resources their child has already been assessed as needing.
Against this backdrop, the Government has announced new guidance aimed at strengthening SEND provision across mainstream schools, colleges and early years settings. The ambition is clear. More children should be able to learn in their local communities, access specialist support when they need it and spend more time alongside their classmates.
For families who have spent years campaigning for change, the announcement is likely to be welcomed. Whether it delivers the long-term improvements they have been waiting for will depend on how those ambitions are translated into everyday practice.
Making Mainstream Education Work for More Children
One of the most significant changes outlined in the guidance is the commitment for every secondary school in England to have an inclusion base.
For many people, the term may suggest a separate classroom or specialist unit. However, that is not the intention. These spaces are designed to provide additional teaching and personalised support while helping pupils remain connected to mainstream education. The goal is not to remove children from their peers but to give them the confidence, strategies and support needed to participate in everyday school life.
The guidance is equally clear that inclusion bases should never become a form of isolation or a disciplinary measure. Instead, they should help reduce situations where children miss lessons, educational visits or extracurricular activities because appropriate support is unavailable. Rather than asking children to adapt to systems that were not designed with their needs in mind, schools are being encouraged to adapt their environments so more pupils can learn successfully together.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson summarised this ambition by saying:
“Every child deserves to attend a school where they belong, where the environment works for them, and where the right support is simply part of the school day. That’s what we’re building.”
Inclusion Already Works. The Challenge Is Making It Consistent.
The principles behind the reforms are not new. Across England, many schools have already demonstrated what can be achieved when specialist support is integrated into mainstream education.
In Sheffield, autistic pupils supported through an inclusion base have successfully accessed up to 100% of mainstream lessons. Every pupil leaving the provision progressed into further education, employment or training, showing that the right support can have a lasting impact beyond school.
Schools in Nottinghamshire have reported similarly positive outcomes. Around 80% of pupils using an inclusion base achieved strong GCSE passes in English and Mathematics. Meanwhile, schools in Oxfordshire recorded average attendance of 93% among pupils accessing specialist provision, suggesting that when children feel supported, they are more likely to engage consistently with their education.
These examples matter because they demonstrate that inclusive education is already being delivered successfully in parts of the country.
Investment Alone Will Not Solve the Problem
Alongside the new guidance, the Government has committed substantial funding to support wider SEND reforms.
Over the next three years, £1.8 billion will fund the new Experts at Hand programme. The initiative will see professionals such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists working directly alongside teachers in mainstream classrooms. Rather than stepping in only when difficulties escalate, specialists will help build confidence, share expertise and strengthen inclusive teaching from the outset.
A further £1.6 billion has been allocated through the Inclusive Mainstream Fund, providing schools with dedicated funding to intervene earlier when children begin to experience difficulties.
These investments recognise something education professionals have argued for many years. Early intervention is almost always more effective than responding once problems have become entrenched. When support is introduced quickly, children are more likely to remain engaged with learning, develop confidence and build positive relationships with school.
However, funding on its own cannot transform the education system. Schools also need sufficient staffing, ongoing professional development and access to specialist expertise. Without those foundations, even well-intentioned policies can struggle to deliver meaningful change.
Families Have Heard Promises Before
While many parents will welcome the announcement, it is understandable that some remain cautious.
Families have spent years navigating lengthy assessment processes, inconsistent local provision and increasing pressure on SEND services. For those currently waiting for support, this announcement is unlikely to bring immediate change.
Trust will not be rebuilt through policy documents alone. It will depend on whether children begin receiving support earlier, whether schools have the capacity to deliver what is being promised and whether families notice a genuine difference in their everyday experiences.
If these reforms are fully implemented, they could reshape how SEND support is delivered across mainstream education. More importantly, they could reduce the number of families who feel they have to fight simply to secure the education their child deserves.
That is ultimately how these reforms should be judged. Not by the scale of the investment or the number of guidance documents published, but by whether children feel included, parents feel supported and schools have the confidence and resources to help every learner reach their potential.
