13/03/2026
This is one of the most concerning things I’ve read about the future of SEND support in England.
SEND parents need to read this.
A recent article suggests the Department for Education is encouraging councils not to expand special schools when submitting their SEND reform plans - even where demand for specialist places is rising rapidly.
At the same time, local authorities are being required to submit these plans before the national consultation on SEND reform has even concluded. In other words, councils are being asked to commit to a direction of travel before parents, professionals and the public have been properly heard.
Why does this matter?
Because many councils are currently carrying huge SEND deficits, and government has indicated that these debts may only be written off if councils sign up to the reform programme. That inevitably creates pressure on councils to align with national policy - even where local need clearly shows that more specialist provision is required, not less.
Meanwhile families are living a completely different reality.
There is a large and growing group of children who are not profoundly complex, but who simply cannot access education in a mainstream classroom. Many autistic children and children with severe anxiety fall into this category.
These children are not failing school.
School is failing them.
A recent study found that 92.1% of children who were persistently absent from school were neurodivergent. That statistic alone should tell us something fundamental about the gap between the education system as it currently operates and the needs of many children within it.
Parents do not seek specialist placements lightly. Most families spend years trying to make mainstream work before reaching that point.
If government policy now discourages the expansion of specialist settings before mainstream schools are genuinely resourced and able to support these children, the question has to be asked:
Where exactly are these children supposed to go?
It is also impossible to ignore the wider context. The government already spends hundreds of millions of pounds fighting parents at SEND tribunals each year, often only to lose and be ordered to provide the support children needed in the first place.
At the same time, reforms are being consulted on that could significantly limit families’ ability to challenge decisions through tribunal - which for many parents has been the only mechanism ensuring their child’s legal right to an education is upheld.
If specialist provision is discouraged from expanding and families lose meaningful legal routes to challenge unsuitable decisions, the balance of power shifts dramatically away from children and their families.
Improving inclusion in mainstream schools is an important and necessary goal. But restricting specialist provision before those improvements exist risks leaving thousands of children without a suitable education at all.
Every child has a legal right to an education that meets their needs.
Policies that quietly remove the settings capable of providing that education should concern every parent, teacher and policymaker in this country.
If you work in education or are a parent of a child with SEND, I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts on this.
Article:
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-dfes-secret-plan-to-cut-special-school-expansion/
Documents reveal how councils' deficit plans will get top ratings for avoiding expanding specialist provision
