Shaped by our SEND Director, Liz Murray
Supporting Education Group welcomes the publication of the Schools White Paper and the Government’s intention to bring forward a more coherent, ambitious and inclusive reform programme. The proposals reflect a thoughtful understanding of the system as it currently stands – its pressures, its inconsistencies and its complexity – and signal a clear shift towards a model where inclusion is fundamental to educational standards.
A More Nuanced Understanding of Need
The White Paper acknowledges the breadth and depth of disadvantage in England’s schools. While supporting pupils with SEND sits at the centre of the reforms, they also recognise that children’s needs do not exist in isolation. References to pupils such as white working‑class children and those experiencing disadvantage demonstrate a more sophisticated grasp of the context schools are operating in.
This nuance is welcome. It reflects an understanding that in order to be successful, reform must recognise intersecting needs and should inform future funding approaches, national templates and accountability mechanisms.
Embedding inclusion at the heart of school standards
One of the most encouraging shifts is the acknowledgement that inclusion and standards are “two sides of the same coin.” This reframing aligns closely with what many school and trust leaders experience daily: children who need additional support are found in every classroom and every setting, and the quality of provision for them shapes outcomes for all.
Supporting Education Group supports this recognition and the broader ambition to move from reactive, crisis‑driven intervention to early preventative support, clearer expectations and more responsive practice.
A system built on collaboration
The White Paper’s emphasis on collaboration – particularly across trusts, mainstream schools and specialist settings – is both timely and necessary. The move towards a more trust‑led system is positioned as a lever for better practice‑sharing, collective problem‑solving, more equitable access to expertise and the ability to effectively scale solutions that are working.
However, capability across the specialist sector is varied. For collaboration to work well, there will need to be clear expectations, coherent frameworks and appropriate accountability for those providing outreach, advisory functions and inclusion support. Supporting Education Group sees this as an opportunity to strengthen the bridge between specialist and mainstream provision and reduce longstanding cultural divides in the sector.
Individual Support Plans and a layered model of provision
The introduction of national, digitised Individual Support Plans (ISPs) has the potential to be a genuinely transformational element of the proposed reforms. By creating clarity and consistency around how needs are identified and supported, ISPs could reduce unnecessary delay, improve transparency for families and enable leaders and teachers to exercise more confident, informed professional judgement.
Their integration alongside a three‑tier model of support – universal, targeted, targeted plus – is also promising. This layered approach will sound familiar to those who have been working in the sector for a while, but combined with ISPs and strengthened access to specialist professionals, it could help ensure that children receive the right support earlier, with less bureaucracy and more focus on adaptive teaching and real‑time provision.
Workforce capacity and the need for detail
Supporting Education Group welcomes the commitment to workforce development, including the £200 million earmarked for training from 2026–27, and is well placed to support the upskilling of teachers, leaders and support staff.
This investment is essential to be able to deliver the ambitions of the White Paper.
However, the sector will require more clarity on:
- The structure and depth of the training offer
- Expectations for support staff, who are central to many schools’ inclusion models
- How additional access to educational psychologists and speech and language therapists will be delivered, given the long qualification pathways and current shortages
- How existing frameworks (ITT, ECF, NPQs) will be adapted to match the scale of reform
Timely detail will be critical. With the right clarity and training, schools could implement changes quickly; without it, there’s a risk that the opportunity for early impact will diminish.
Reframing categories of need
The proposed move from categories of need to broader areas of development is a significant departure from the current SEND Code of Practice. Supporting Education Group supports the effort to reduce dependence on diagnostic labels, which can delay support and create barriers for children.
However, it is of course important that the areas of development are comprehensive. Initial reflections suggest that specific learning difficulties may not be fully captured in the proposed framework, which risks limiting the range of needs that are recognised and supported. Further consultation and evidence‑testing will be essential to ensure the new approach leads to more precision in understanding pupils’ needs.
Behaviour, safety and inclusion
The White Paper’s position on behaviour, safety and exclusion reflects a tension that many schools already grapple with. On the one hand, it states that the exclusion of a child with SEND is unlawful, but on the other, it asserts that violence has no place in schools. Some pupils with complex needs present with violent behaviour. The White Paper acknowledges this complexity, and states that it will review behaviour guidance. But the reality is that schools find themselves in a challenging bind of balancing the safety of staff and other pupils with their responsibility to support children whose behaviour is driven by underlying need. To resolve this challenge will require significant, targeted resource, and practical support. Further clarity, guidance and resourcing will be essential if schools are to manage these risks fairly and safely.
How Supporting Education Group will support the sector
Supporting Education Group is well positioned to play a leading role in supporting schools and trusts as they prepare for and implement the proposed reforms. Our support includes:
1. SEND Lens, a new Trust Self‑Evaluation Tool
This evidence‑led tool, available shortly at no cost to founding partners, is designed to help trusts assess their readiness for reform and identify strategic priorities.
2. SEND & Inclusion Hub
Launching imminently, the Hub brings together resources, professional learning, diagnostic tools and specialist expertise, enabling schools and trusts to build the capability and confidence needed for sustained improvement.
3. National Training and Qualifications
Our existing training and qualifications offer – much of which can be accessed through the apprenticeship levy – supports the upskilling of staff at all levels, from support staff to senior leaders. We will expand this offer in line with reform requirements.
4. SEND-Trained and Experienced Educators
We support schools and trusts to recruit, develop and retain a workforce skilled in supporting pupils with SEND. Leaders gain access to thousands of SEND-trained educators for specialist roles.
Conclusion
The Schools White Paper represents a substantial reform package that reaches far beyond SEND alone – encompassing curriculum, assessment, behaviour, disadvantage and system design. It is ambitious, necessary and grounded in a welcome recognition that the current system is not functioning as it should.
While much detail is still to come, the direction is clear: a more inclusive, earlier‑intervention‑focused and collaborative education system. With the right evidence, training and clarity, this reform agenda has the potential to deliver a meaningful reset for inclusion in England’s schools.
Supporting Education Group will continue to support schools, trusts and leaders to navigate the reforms, build capability and deliver the high‑quality, inclusive practice that every child deserves.