As we await the belated appearance of the schools white paper, which will contain information on what is going to happen to the SEND system, I’m beginning this summary by referring to the Solving the SEND Crisis report that was published in September 2025, together with the government’s response to it a couple of months later. I‘ve given these quite a bit of space as they include some thoughts on what needs to happen next, as well as providing an insight into the government’s current thinking.

The SEND Crisis

Solving the SEND Crisis: the report

Last time I wrote, I mentioned that the Education Committee – under the chairpersonship of MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, Helen Hayes – had launched an inquiry to gather ideas on what needed to be done to sort out the SEND system. The chapter headings in the Solving the SEND Crisis report give an indication of the areas that are seen as needing to be tackled:

1. Introduction
2. The state of inclusive education in England
3. Securing inclusive education
4. Restoring parent trust and confidence
5. Improving early years for lasting impact
6. Post-16
7. Equipping the workforce
8. Getting to a sustainable model of funding
9. Building stronger partnerships
10. Expanding capacity within the SEND system
11. Conclusion.

At the end of this thorough report is a list of 95 conclusions and recommendations, which are also grouped under the above headings.                          

Learn more about the Solving the SEND Crisis inquiry and read the report.

Solving the SEND Crisis: the government’s response 

In the introduction to its response, the government confirms that:

'Our response at this time is deliberately high-level and further detail on our plans for SEND reform will be set out in the Schools White Paper early in the new year following a further period of engagement with children and families.'

This is an interesting statement, as it talks about continuing to gather views at a time when it was hoped the white paper might be about to make its long-awaited appearance!

After the introduction, the government’s five ‘principles for reform’ are set out. In brief, these are:

• Early – children should receive the support they need as soon as possible
• Local – pupils with SEND should be able to learn at a school close to their home. Special schools will continue to play a vital role supporting those with the most complex needs
• Fair – every school should be resourced to meet common and predictable needs. Where specialist provision is needed for children in mainstream, special or alternative provision, we will ensure it is there
• Effective – reforms should be grounded in evidence, ensuring all education settings know where to go to find effective practice
• Shared – education, health and care services should work in partnership with each other and with local government, families, teachers, experts and representative bodies to deliver better experiences and outcomes for all our children.

The rest of the response doesn’t directly reply to the recommendations, but it does give a useful overview of what has already been achieved or is underway:

• In a section on Early Years, reference is made to the policy paper Giving every child the best start in life (updated Sept 2025), the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) being funded until 2028/29, and an evaluation which is due to take place of the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme
• Mainstream Inclusion takes in the context for the SEND reforms, including: the RISE (regional improvement for standards and excellence) adviser's role in supporting the dissemination of effective inclusive practice, the Curriculum and Assessment Review's work leading to a "rich, broad and inclusive reformed curriculum", and Ofsted's focus on inclusion in its new framework
• As regards the workforce, the Early Career Teacher Entitlement (ECTE) introduced in September 2025 contains new statements relating to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND. There is a commitment to providing targeted support and further resources for early career teachers (ECTs) in special schools
• The Department for Education (DfE) is working with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England to develop a cross-departmental workforce strategy and specialist workforce. As well as the 200-plus educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023, 400 more EPs over two cohorts started their studies in 2024 and 2025
• Redress and Accountability covers the need to retain the SEND Tribunal and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), and to discuss with them whether any changes to their roles are needed. Also to work with Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to see if any further refining of the Area SEND Inspection Framework is required
• Post-16 and Support for Adulthood mentions the increase in pathways – academic, technical and vocational, as well as apprenticeships and supported internships
• English and maths are singled out and recognition given that some students with education, health and care (EHC) plans should not be expected to study for a qualification. Reference is also made to the post-16 education and skills white paper, which aims to break the cycle of endless resits and offers new level one stepping stone qualifications
• Transitions to Adulthood and Employment includes tools and approaches to reduce the risk of learners with SEND becoming NEETs (not in education, employment or training) by developing specific, targeted support for learners who might be at risk of dropping out of education
• The crucial issue of funding mentions the extension to the Statutory Override until the end of 2027/28, with further details being addressed elsewhere.

The government’s response ends by returning to one of its main drivers for ending the SEND crisis:

'Many mainstream settings are delivering specialist provision locally through SEN units and resourced provision. These specialist facilities attached to mainstream schools can deliver bespoke support, adapted to pupils’ needs and close to their home.

'We would like to explore how we can make similar practices widespread, not only to improve SEND provision in mainstream, but to deepen the relationship between mainstream and specialist schools.'

Read Solving the SEND Crisis: Government Response.

Neurodiversity

The concept of neurodiversity is gaining ground and is something that unites the work of the previous government and the current one.

Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS): an update

As mentioned briefly in my previous summary, this is a joint project between NHS England and the Department for Eduction (DfE), which began in January 2024, involves 1,600 primary schools and is led by integrated care boards (ICBs). According to the DfE, it is estimated that one in seven children may be neurodiverse. In November 2025, a report on the first year of the PINS programme was published, the evaluation being undertaken by academics from the University of Exeter.

The headline findings were very positive. The success of the programme to date was found to be due to:

• a joined-up approach between the DfE and NHS England (NHSE) working in partnership with the National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF)
• a requirement for partnership working between the NHS, local authorities and schools
• working within a framework that prioritised a whole-school approach to neurodiversity, combined with the delivery of bespoke support in response to specific needs of schools.

The PINS programme has been extended until March 2026, with evaluation activity continuing until October 2026. Support will expand to approximately 30 new schools within each participating ICB area, with some support offered to help embed learning in the schools that took part in year one of the programme.

Another key factor was the range of practitioners helping to deliver PINS in primary schools, including:

• educational psychologists and clinical psychologists
• speech and language therapists (SaLTs) and occupational therapists (OTs)
• specialist or school nurses
• autism advisers
• parent carers
• mental health/child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) practitioners
• SEND advisers/specialist teachers.

This shows what can be done with sufficient funding combined with a high level of support from outside specialists, which will make many not involved in the programme green with envy!

Read the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS): interim evaluation report.

The Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group: an update

In addition to prolonging the life of the PINS Project, in November 2024, Karen Guldberg, professor of autism studies and head of the School of Education at the University of Birmingham, was asked by the government to chair a neurodivergence task and finish group. At the December 2025 meeting of the Special Educational Consortium (SEC), which I attended on behalf of NAHT, Karen explained that the task and finish group had been set up by the Labour government and given eight months to complete its task.

The group’s purpose was to make recommendations to DfE ministers on the best ways to support and meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people in mainstream settings. Karen said they had completed their report on time and it had been due to be published in July 2025, alongside the schools white paper. As the white paper had been delayed, so had her report. The group had met monthly and had arrived at these four key priorities:

1. Timely identification and effective support as early as possible, with separating the diagnostic process from educational assessment
2. The need to upskill the workforce and for cultural and systemic change to sort out the terminology around specialist provision and mainstream schools
3. Learning environments need to be designed to make them inclusive. Behaviour policies need to change from a focus on sanctions, which are unhelpful to the neurodivergent
4. The importance of funding accountability and integrated commissioning, so long-term outcomes can be captured.

The recommendations will be based around these four areas when the report is finally published.

Leadership Focus December 2025

For those of you who haven't yet found the time to investigate the latest edition of this action-packed magazine from NAHT, it starts with articles on various aspects of SEND, including the practical and the political in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. At the end, there is a series of contributions on the topic of neurodiversity written by members of the National Forum for Neuroscience and Special Education (NFNSE), which is hosted by NAHT. It finishes with a series of links to information sheets produced by members of the forum and their colleagues on:

• acquired brain injury and traumatic brain injury
• anxiety
• developmental language disorder (DLD)
• foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)
• pathological demand avoidance (PDA)
• prematurity
• trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

These can be downloaded free of charge and a direct link to each one is given at the end of the article.

Read Leadership Focus (December 2025).

A national conversation on reforming the SEND system

There was some surprise when the DfE announced a national conversation on reforming the SEND system during December 2025 and running into January 2026, by which time we were hoping the schools white paper might have appeared! Just as I was finishing this summary, I attended another session of the DfE's national conversation, despite having been rather disappointed by a previous one. This time, there was more input from Georgia Gould, the minister whose duties include SEND, and also from Geoff Barton, former general secretary of ASCL, who has been chairing an inclusion taskforce for the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).  

Geoff explained that the taskforce is dedicated to fixing the SEND system, and in October 2025 IPPR published Breaking the Cycle: A blueprint for special educational needs and disability (SEND) reform.

Read Breaking the Cycle: A blueprint for special educational needs and disability (SEND) reform.

And, finally, my apologies for not having room to fit in everything that’s happened. Here’s hoping the white paper appears before long and all the very best for the spring term!

Rona Tutt, 7 January 2026.