The government published its Schools White Paper — Every Child Achieving and Thriving — on 23 February 2026, alongside a major consultation on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities reform that closed on 18 May 2026. The white paper describes its SEND proposals as a radical expansion of rights for children with SEND, and has been widely recognised as the most significant attempt to address the SEND system’s structural problems in over a decade.
The backdrop is stark. Local authority SEND budgets have been in deficit for years. The number of children with Education, Health and Care Plans has more than doubled since 2015. As the University of Portsmouth’s expert commentary notes, permanent exclusions from schools have hit a record high. And school absence among pupils with SEND and from disadvantaged backgrounds continues to rise at a rate that experts have described as hugely concerning.
The proposals are built around improving inclusion in mainstream schools, reducing pressure on specialist provision, and creating what the government describes as a ladder of support between mainstream and special school settings. The white paper calls for mainstream and special schools to work more closely together, with special schools providing outreach, expertise, and capacity-building to mainstream settings.
Crucially, no changes to existing EHCPs will take place before September 2030 at the earliest. This means the current legal framework — and the rights attached to existing plans — remains in place in the near term. According to the House of Commons Library briefing, all local authorities with SEND deficits will receive a grant covering 90% of their high-needs deficit up to the end of 2025–26, with wider support for schools to follow.
Running alongside SEND reform is the persistent challenge of school exclusions. A recent report from the Oxford Department of Education calls for urgent action, noting that children with SEND, those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and those with social, emotional, and mental health needs are disproportionately represented among those excluded or persistently absent.
For practitioners in youth work and social care, this is familiar territory. Many of the young people they work with arrived at the point of needing support partly as a consequence of school exclusion and the gaps it creates. The reform proposals acknowledge that school exclusion is not simply a behaviour management issue — it is a systemic one, shaped by funding pressures, institutional culture, unmet mental health need, and inadequate early identification of vulnerability.
The SEND consultation closing in May 2026 represented a genuine opportunity for practitioners to input into the design of reform. For those working alongside children navigating the current system in the interim, the key message is continuity of rights in the near term, combined with a clear trajectory toward a more inclusive mainstream offer.
For those leading practice and workforce development across education, health, youth work, and social care, the white paper reinforces something practitioners already know: that inclusive education requires not just policy but sustained investment in the skills, confidence, and cultural competency of the people delivering it. The gap between the government’s ambition and current reality remains wide. Bridging it will require commitment at every level of the system. Whole School SEND continues to publish useful updates and practice resources for those wanting to stay across developments.
