Responding to the government's announcement that it will provide additional funding to train educational psychologists from 2028, as it publishes a report looking at how much time councils spend producing Education Health and Care Plans, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“We have long sounded the alarm about shortages of specialists who play a vital role in supporting children with additional needs, including both educational psychologists and speech and language therapists.

“The upcoming white paper provides the ideal opportunity to set out how the government intends to rebuild these crucial services . Access to educational psychologists will be particularly important in delivering on the government’s stated vision of a system in which children’s needs are identified and supported earlier, and in which both mainstream and special schools can access the expertise they need to enable pupils to flourish.

“It’s crucial the government’s plans are supported by significant investment to not only address workforce challenges, but also end the unfair postcode lottery when it comes to both access to SEND specialists and funding.”