SEND News
- Written by: Brian Lamb
SEND Bases in Mainstream Schools: Parent Views
Report on parent views of "Inclusion Bases". Several positive mentions of deaf provision and a useful analysis of proportions of SI children in bases.
Informtaion updates for parents about what is happening now in the SEND reforms:
Inclusive Mainstream fund: support for School Leaders
Education, Health and Care Plans 2026.
These are the SEN2 figures which include all plans from any setting up the age of 25. The main conclusion is;
"The number of children and young people with EHC plans increased to 718,800, as at census day in January 2026, 12.5% higher than at January 2025. This is the highest year on year increase since EHC plans were introduced in 2014."
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
For the first time, departmental guidance has been produced to help settings and local authorities set up and deliver high-quality provision in inclusion bases, as well as support improvement of existing bases. The department has engaged widely with the school, SEND, and AP sectors in producing this guidance, and involved a wide range of stakeholders, including children and young people and parents and carers with experience of accessing bases, social care and allied health professionals, school and trust leaders, support staff, local authority SEND leads and organisations in the third sector. The guidance sets out six principles of effective practice for inclusion bases as well as guidance on effective commissioning. This is supported by 12 spotlight examples demonstrating the depth, breadth and impact of different inclusion base models.
The guidance is available at this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusion-bases-in-schools
Alongside the inclusion bases guidance, we are publishing two reports.
The first is a report on research exploring the views and experiences of parents and carers whose children attend or have attended an inclusion base in a mainstream school.
The report is available at this link;
www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-bases-in-mainstream-schools-parent-views
The second report presents insights from academic experts on the impact of SEN units and resourced provision, and features of effective practice.
The report is available at this link;
- Written by: Brian Lamb
DfE today published the annual report based on the school census data of SEN.
They can be found here; https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2025-26
Key Points;
- The percentage of pupils with an EHC plan has increased to 6.0%, from 5.3% in 2025 an 11.6% increase from the previous year to 538,547 pupils with an EHCP.
- The percentage of pupils with SEN support (no EHCP) has increased to 14.8%, from 14.2% in 2025, with 1,319,780 at SEN Support.
These figures show a greater proportional rise than the rise in the school population since 2016.
Pupils with an EHC plan account for an increasing proportion of pupils with SEN; 29.0% of pupils in 2026, up from 19.3% in 2016.
The number of children with Hearing Impairment and an EHCP increased from 6,398 in 2025 to 6,440 in 2026, while the number of children at SEN support increased from 17,396 to 17,474 over the same period.
The number of children with Vision Impairment and an EHCP increased from 3,921 to 4,067, but those on SEN support fell from 9,544 to 9,468.
The number of children with MSI and an EHCP increased from 1,352 to 1,392 and those on SEN support decreased from 3,278 to 3,092.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The DfE has now issued a press notice on the new Experts at Hand guidance and the membership of the Expert Panel to oversee the development of the National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/local-areas-prepare-new-experts-at-hand-teams
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The Council for Disabled Children undertook a small-scale project to explore the role of the specialist workforce in enabling this conceptual and pedagogical shift.
The process involved semi-structured interviews with 16 professionals across a variety of roles. These were followed by a roundtable conversation held in February 2026, and an iterative process of confirming with participants the conclusions and recommendations set out in the report.
The report and resources to download can be found through this link:
- Written by: Brian Lamb
DfE today issued overall guidance on how Experts at Hand funding is going to be handled and used.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The government guidance; How local authorities should implement Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies services was updated today.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The government's long awaited White Paper and consultation about SEND reform 'Every child achieving and thriving and Putting children and young people first' has been published today.
The links are here:
- Specialist SEND support: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/specialist-send-support-in-every-school-and-community
- The White Paper, 'Every child achieving and thriving': https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving
- The consultation on 'SEND Reform: 'Putting Children and Young People First' :https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first
- A series of documents setting out the key information and proposed reforms in the schools white paper and SEND consultation document for parents and those working in the sector: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-send-reforms-sheets
The consultation is open until 18 May 2026: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first
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