13 bombshell adjustments to varsities from new SEND assist and classroom shake-up
Generational plans to overhaul the special educational needs and disabilities system has finally been published – The Mirror looks at some of the biggest announcements
Keir Starmer said he wanted the reforms to offer ‘a better education for every single child’(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Parents, teachers and children have been promised more targeted support, earlier and locally, under generational plans to overhaul the special educational needs and disabilities system.
In what is billed as a decade-long reform programme, billions of pounds is being invested to make mainstream schools more inclusive. All teachers in mainstream schools will be expected to be trained in SEND, while 60,000 new specialist places in mainstream settings will be created.
Parents and teachers have been crying out for change with the in-crisis system leaving kids waiting years for support. They sometimes face years-long waits for Education, health and Care Plans (EHCPs), which are a legal guarantee of support.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer makes key promise as major school SEND plans announced
But in a major change, EHCPs will be reviewed and reserved for the children with the most complex needs. Children who are currently in Year 2 will be the first cohort to see their EHCPs be reviewed when they go to secondary school.
They will either keep their EHCP or move to a new, digital Individual Support Plan (ISP), with access to three tiers of support: Targeted, Targeted Plus and Specialist. The new ISPs should be given instantaneously by schools, with no need for a formal assessment or diagnosis.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Keir Starmer vowed to tackle the broken SEND system when Labour was elected. The PM this morning said he wanted the reforms to offer “a better education for every single child”.
At a breakfast meeting with school leaders and charities in Downing Street, the Prime Minister referred to his own brother Nick, who died in 2024, who had struggled with learning difficulties and was “put to one side”. Mr Starmer said “his life was very different from mine” because the system failed him.
The Mirror takes a look at some of the biggest announcements in the Schools White Paper.
1. New tiered ‘targeted’ support system
Parents will no longer have to go through lengthy assessments to get SEND support for their children.
A new tiered system, which will come into force from September 2029, will see kids able to access three tiers of support: Targeted, Targeted Plus and Specialist. EHCPs will remain available for the children with the most complex needs.
Those who need it will be able to access a new, digital Individual Support Plan (ISP), developed by schools. It will allow them to access layers of support known as ‘Targeted’ and ‘Targeted Plus’ in mainstream schools. Children will not need to have a diagnosis to access these layers of support. It will give them access to support like speech and language therapists, small group provision or adaptations to the curriculum.
There will be no formal assessment or diagnosis needed for the ISP and will mean children should be able to get it instantaneously, after input from teachers and parents.
‘Specialist Provision Packages’ will be introduced as another higher tier of support for children with more complex needs. An expert panel will review the packages, which will in turn guide what is included in an EHCP.
It will also be supported by £1.8billion over the next three years towards creating an “experts at hand” service, which will fund multiagency support within schools. Every council working with Integrated Care Boards and health boards will commission local professionals so they are routinely available to support children in schools, whether or not children have an EHCP.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer makes key promise as major school SEND plans announced
2. EHCP support to be reassessed
EHCPs will continue for those who need them – but kids will be reassessed when they move between primary and secondary school.
The white paper says: “As pupils move to the new system when they reach the end of a phase of education, those who do not need an EHCP will be supported through the flexible layers of support, which can be drawn on from day one. If needed, they will also receive a digital Individual Support Plan.”
This includes transitions from primary to secondary, or secondary to college, etc. Children who are currently in Year 2 will be the first cohort to see their EHCPs assessed when they go to secondary school.
3. ECHP and specialist provision eligibility
The Specialist Provision Packages (SPS) will underpin EHCPs, which will provide a legal entitlement to the support an SPS sets out. An initial list of needs or conditions that would lead to an SPS has been set out by the DfE.
It includes young people with more than one disability, such as a physical disability or sensory impairment; severe learning difficulties; those with social needs such as autism or ADHD; and those with speech, language and communication issues. Children who are deaf or have a visual impairment or those with a physical disability who can access the mainstream system are also included on the initial list.
An expert panel with an independent chair will be responsible for improving the quality of SEND evidence, as well as developing SPS packages. A fast track for SPS packages and EHCPs will be introduced for children under five whose needs are complex.
A tribunal process will remain for EHCPs, but the school complaints process will apply to ISPs.
4. Inclusion in mainstream schools
The DfE is making it compulsory for all secondary schools to have an inclusion base to accommodate children with extra needs.
Some £3.7billion has been announced to fund 60,000 new places for children with SEND. Schools will be given new guidance and design specifications for all schools to create the specialist spaces. It will cover comfortable lighting and acoustics, breakout rooms for interventions and outdoor spaces with quiet and active areas.
A further £1.6billion has been pledged to go towards an Inclusion Mainstream Fund over three years from 2026/27.
5. Teacher training
The white paper sets out plans to train every teacher to be a teacher of children with SEND – to aid inclusion in mainstream schools.
The move is backed by £200million over three years. All staff in schools, colleges and early years settings will benefit from new training by the end of the Parliament. Training will apply to the entire 0-25 system.
Labour made it a manifesto pledge to hire 6,500 new teachers over the course of this parliament. In a delivery plan published alongside the white paper, the government promised to target shortage subjects and tackle recruitment and retention issues.
6. Target to halve disadvantage gap
The white paper sets a target to halve the disadvantage gap by the time children born under this Government finish secondary school.
The disadvantage gap is as stark today as it was over a decade ago in 2014, with only 44% of poorer children achieving a pass at grade four or above in their maths and English GCSEs, compared to over 70% of children who do not receive free school meals.
Ministers have vowed to change how funding is directed to disadvantaged kids, from the current free school meals benchmark. Instead, how low the family’s income is, how long that’s been the case, and where the child lives will be considered. This would also remove the need for parents to take up free school meals to attract more help, in an attempt to cut admin for schools.
The paper will also introduce two programmes, Mission North East and Mission Coastal, aiming to boost disadvantaged children in those areas, including white working-class pupils.
7. Early intervention
Ministers recently announced £700m in Best Start Family Hubs to strengthen SEND support.
Councils have been told to recruit a new dedicated SEND practitioner in the Sure Start-inspired hubs to provide direct, family-facing support. The white paper sets out the need to prioritise early intervention, from the early years sector and onwards.
8. Maternity pay boost
School teachers, leaders, and support staff will see their maternity pay boosted for the first time in over 25 years, the DfE said.
Stats show women aged 30-39 are the largest group of leavers from the teaching workforce. This means pupils are missing out on having access to experienced teachers if young women are forced to choose between their career and having a family
The government will double the period of full maternity pay for schoolteachers and leaders from 4 weeks full pay to 8 weeks from the 2027-28 academic year, backed by additional funding.
9. Teacher retention and pay
A new schoolteacher retention programme will begin from this Autumn. It will provide peer support, coaching, and resources to help schools support their staff to manage workloads, support their wellbeing and offer more expanding flexible working.
For school support staff, the government will also provide funding to schools and will remit the soon to be established School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) to negotiate equivalent improvements for support staff in its first year of operation.
10. National standards and new ‘School Profiles’
The DfE said National Inclusion Standards will be introduced to ensure support is consistent. Up to £15million will be invested to strengthen the evidence base for the standards by 2026.
Plans for new ‘School Profiles’ – an information service for every school that will act as a one-stop-shop for parents, showcasing key information around attendance, attainment and enrichment.
A commitment to develop minimum expectations for schools around engagement with parents, for example timely communication and high quality transition from primary to secondary.
11. Cap on independent fees
The Schools White Paper will also set out plans to clamp down on spiralling independent special school fees.
The DfE said it will set clear national price bands to end unjustified fee variation for the same provision, as well as statutory standards for independent special schools.
On average, they charge £63,000 per child per year – more than twice the £26,000 cost of a state special school. The increased use of the independent sector is among the reasons blamed for the spiralling costs of SEND provision
Where special schools are the right setting for children with the most complex needs, the new framework will ensure places are high-quality, locally planned and financially sustainable.
12. Special schools
Special schools will play a role in the system, with staff from special schools to go into mainstream settings to assist, or mainstream children to go on placements in special schools.
Alternative Provision will offer three levels of support: Outreach to mainstream schools, short-term placements for assessment and reintegration, and longer-term placements when needed. Other specialist schools and post-16 institutions will also be expected to provide outreach and short-term placements for kids in mainstream settings.
All children and young people who have a special school place in September 2029 will be able to remain there until the end of their education, unless they choose to move. Their EHCP will continue to be reviewed annually.
13. Funding
The DfE has promised to spend more £7billion more on SEND support compared to 2025-26.
Budgets for the department in 2028-29 will rise by £3.5bn more than planned in Rachel Reeves’s budget last year.
Some £4billion is going directly to reforms between 2026/27 to 2028/29. This includes aspects such as the £1.6bn to make mainstream schools more inclusive and £200m for teacher training. Some £3.7billion in capital funding – to fund 60,000 new specialist places in mainstream and specialist settings – has also been promised.
EHCPs will continue to rise until the reforms come in, when they are expected to again reach today’s levels in a decade. It means funding on SEND is not projected to fall within this period.
