SEND: What UK educators could expect in the year ahead

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is an area where school and trust leaders have been grappling with significant challenges. Unfortunately, this looks set to continue in the year ahead.  

Although it is a whole school responsibility to support students with SEND, it is school leaders and SENCOs (ALNCo in Wales) who decide SEND policy. Trusts cannot underestimate the importance of ensuring policies and practices of the highest standard. It is vital to the confidence and progress of SEND students but it also has knock-on effects for the wider school population.  

So, what can school and trust leaders expect this school year when it comes to special educational needs and disabilities? We've taken recent data and the outstanding coverage in Tes Magazine to build a picture of the current landscape. Although SEND is such a huge and complex area to cover, we hope this is a good preview of the key themes this coming year. We’ve covered the main challenges that may be ahead and highlighted some examples of current best practices.  

The SEND landscape in education today  

Funding is at the heart of every educational issue and SEND is no different. A recent survey by the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) revealed that only 1% of school leaders believe they have adequate funding to meet their schools' needs.  

While mainstream schools are facing challenges with special educational needs, specialist schools are also facing difficulties. In the same report, it was found that two thirds of special schools were operating at or over their capacity during the 2022-23 academic year. This naturally has a knock-on effect to special educational needs requirements in mainstream schools.  

The previous government released their long-awaited SEND plan to a mixed response from leaders. Although many of the proposals were highlighted as positive steps, others argued the measures did not go far enough. Others felt proposals should begin sooner; with most scheduled for 2025.  

Predicting challenges in the year ahead  

Funding will unfortunately remain an issue in the year ahead. Local authorities and government have indicated budgets are unlikely to change considerably this year. Trusts will face some difficult choices, making it vital that schools utilise their available budget effectively. This includes efficiently managing interventions and resources as well as maximising the chances of receiving the entirety of any EHCP funding requests.  

The SEND plan and the recent change of government will be areas of interest for schools and SENCOs this year. School and trust leaders will wonder how much of the previous government's SEND plan the new incumbents will carry forward. This year may also make it clearer what changes the new government wants to implement. School and trust leaders may be consulted on potential SEND policy at some point this school year.  

It’s also highly likely that there will continue to be delays in EHCP responses from local authorities. There is a duty under the ‘Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Regulations 2014' to issue a final plan within 20 weeks of a request; this was only achieved in 50.3% of cases in 2023 (Source). Schools will therefore have to manage without requested funding and resources for certain students for longer periods.   

Best SEND practices in schools and trusts  

To support students with special educational needs and disabilities many trusts have appointed trust-wide SEND leaders. These leaders - or in some trusts, leadership teams - oversee whole school SEND provisions across all schools within the trust.  

This centralised approach helps trusts in multiple ways. It can help trusts share best practice, resources and staff between schools. It also ensures a consistent approach to special education provision for children and young people across the entire group.  

As previously mentioned, capacity within special schools is a major challenge facing the sector. One trust with a mix of mainstream and special schools told Tes Magazine how they manage to meet the demand for places.  

Leigh Academies Trust operates a satellite model where pupils remain enrolled at a special school within the trust but attend a ‘home’ campus. Utilising facilities integrated into nearby mainstream schools instead of their special school. Trust CEO, Simon Beamish explains that it has helped the trust create 100 more places for those who are still able to access mainstream schools.   

One other way of supporting a child or young person with SEND is by creating ‘safe’ or ‘breakout’ spaces in classrooms or within schools. Creating a space with calming elements such as weighted blankets, bean bags, fairy lights can support self-regulation. Students can remove themselves to this space, take a moment before rejoining the lesson or activity. This was suggested by experienced SENCo, Leyla Gambell in Tes Magazine.     

How can Tes support?  

Provision Map  

Schools can secure an average of £11,000 per year of additional funding by using Provision Map for evidencing and reporting.  

• Easily create individual learning plans, track plans and interventions and evaluate those making the biggest impact on learning outcomes.  

• Use Provision Map's in-depth data and evidencing tools to push for additional funding.  

• Make confident decisions using a trust-wide dashboard with real-time insights to maximise funding and provide impactful provisions.  

• Provision Map's efficiencies save the average secondary SLT team three hours a week. That's three-and-a-half weeks a year in saved time!  

Find out more by visiting our Provision Map home page.  

"What we're creating with Provision Map is a bank of history for each of the children we're working with. This can be shared when they transition from school-to-school or year-to-year."  

Simon Tanner - Director of SEND, E-ACT School Trust  

Tes Institute - Straight to Teaching  

• Over 40% of the schools that work with Tes Institute are specialist schools and over 1,300 SEND teachers have enrolled on our courses.  

• Straight to Teaching is a flexible route to QTS and can be tailored to your school's specific needs.  

• The Straight to Teaching course includes subject specific and pedagogical content from SEND specialists.  

Learn more by visiting the Straight to Teaching course page.