Children with conditions that present on a spectrum, such as autism and ADHD, are at risk of losing specialist support under Labour’s major shake-up of the SEND system.
Today, the Government has finally unveiled its major reforms to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with details of how the new four-tier system of support in mainstream schools will work.
The Schools White Paper, the Government’s policy document setting out its SEND proposals in a consultation, contains radical changes to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), which are legal documents that describe a child’s needs and unlock extra support.
It states that children with conditions that present on a spectrum “may not necessarily be supported by the same Specialist Provision Package” (SPP) – which will be the new route to an EHCP.
However, there will be no statutory assessment for these packages. Not every child with a condition such as autism or ADHD will necessarily qualify for an SPP, and therefore an EHCP.
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The document also reveals that pupil’s EHCPs will be reviewed after primary school and limited to children with the greatest needs.
As previously revealed in The i Paper, children who already have the hard-won plans will be reviewed at key transition phases, such as from primary to secondary schools, from 2030.
As the new system is implemented from 2029 onwards, the SPPs will be introduced for those with the “most complex needs” and children will “start to transition as they reach the point of changing provision”, the white paper states.
It unveils the final plans for the new four-tier system, first revealed by The i Paper, with layers of support called “Targeted” and “Targeted Plus” in mainstream schools.
It sets out plans to resolve the “vast majority” of legal disputes over SEND support through “independent mediation services”. The tribunal will still exist as a “backstop” but its role will be limited.
The Government has backed the reforms with a £4bn funding package over the next three years, including £1.6bn for SEND budgets at mainstream schools and £1.8bn for more SEND specialists to help children.
EHCPs reviewed after primary school
From September 2029, ministers plan to introduce legislation that restricts which children get an EHCP – which cost an average of £17,500 per person. The majority of SEND children in mainstream schools expected to have an “Individual Support Plan” (ISP) instead.
This will be a digital passport, which will be rolled out from 2029, containing information about a child’s additional needs. Schools will have a “duty” to produce an ISP for any child with SEND, the Government has said.
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Between 2030 and 2035, children’s EHCPs will be reviewed as they transition between key education phases, such as from primary to secondary school. At this point they will move onto a different plan.
This will either be an SPP, which could qualify them for an new-style EHCP, or an ISP, which means they will no longer meet the criteria. The latter will be developed by teachers in consultation with parents and families, and there will be no formal statutory assessment.
The first cohort to transition will be those “at the end of primary, secondary and post-16 in 2029/30”, the Government document states, with children beginning assessments from September 2029, to move onto the new system in September 2030.
If a child has been assessed to move to an ISP rather than an SPP, they will “keep their current EHCP until the end of the 2029/30 academic year”.
The SEND consultation states that all children with a special school place in September 2029 “will be able to stay in special school until the end of their education, unless they choose to move to a mainstream setting”.
However, it adds that their “EHCP and support will continue to be reviewed annually”.
How transition phases for EHCPs will work
All children in Year 3 and above will retain their EHCP until at least age 16 Children in Year 2 or below will be reassessed between Year 6 and Year 7 Those whose needs are best met with additional support in mainstream will transition to ISP, losing their EHCPNew four-tier system revealed
More young people with SEND will have their “needs met in mainstream settings through the universal and Targeted layers” of the four-tier system, the white paper says.
The first tier of “universal support” will be the base level of support in mainstream schools for all children aged up to 25.
The second and third tiers will be called “Targeted” and “Targeted plus”. Every child receiving either of these layers of support will have an ISP.
Targeted support means a child will predominantly be in the classroom but will drop out occasionally for additional support, which may be in the form of small group work.
Pupils in Targeted Plus will be primarily educated in an inclusion base – dedicated spaces where pupils with SEND can access support – with every secondary school set to have one under the reforms.
Ministers have invested £3.7bn to create 60,000 specialist places in mainstream schools via inclusion bases by 2030. These will either be “Support Bases”, which will be funded by schools, or “Specialist Bases”, which will be delivered by local authorities.
This cohort will have access to “experts at hand”, which are professionals such as SEND teachers, educational psychologists and speech and language therapists commissioned by councils to work directly with mainstream settings.
Ministers also plan to “grow the workforce” of educational psychologists, with £40m over three years to train over 200 more professionals to cut the SEND assessments backlog.
Who gets an EHCP?
The final layer of support in the four-tier system – “Specialist” – will be reserved for children with the “most complex needs” in both mainstream and specialist settings.
This support will be based on nationally defined Specialist Provision Packages (SPP), which will form the basis of an EHCP. These packages will unlock extra support such as access to physiotherapy and communication devices.
There will be seven different types of SPP, based on children’s needs, including for those with profound and multiple learning difficulties, sensory impairment and physical disability.
The document states that the Government will introduce “primary legislation to establish that only those who require a Specialist Provision Package will need an EHCP”.
The Government plans to introduce a “fast track” for an SPP and EHCP for children under the age of five “who have bene identified as having complex needs”.
Officials have not provided a definition of “complex needs”, with the document saying it intends to further consult with parents and sector experts to develop these descriptions.
New EHCPs will be developed with the school, in consultation with parents, “after” the SPP and school placement decisions have been made – rather than before.
Schools will have a “legal duty” to deliver the education listed in an EHCP but councils will retain “overall ownership”, with their duty to provide sufficient placements and resources “strengthened”.
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