SEND funding will make schools more inclusive, ministers say

The government announced £3.4bn over three years for SEND, including £1.6bn to schools and £1.8bn for specialist support, as part of wider reforms due in a Schools White Paper.

The government says it will spend billions to make mainstream schools in England more inclusive for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. The package includes £1.6bn over three years for schools, early years settings and colleges, and £1.8bn over the same period to increase access to specialist teachers and speech and language therapists. The funding is described as part of a broader SEND system overhaul. Ministers say full reform plans will be published in a Schools White Paper on Monday. Key facts: - The announcement specifies £1.6bn to schools and settings and £1.8bn for specialist support over three years, a total of £3.4bn. - The package includes £200m aimed at training so all teachers can be qualified to support pupils with SEND. - Leaked elements of the plans include reassessing education, health and care plans (EHCPs) after primary school and again after GCSEs; children in Year 6 in 2029 would be the first to be reviewed under this approach. - Currently just over 480,000 of the 1.7 million pupils with SEND in England have EHCPs, a figure cited in reporting. - Teaching unions and some school leaders said they will scrutinise whether the funding is sufficient, while disability charities and campaign groups welcomed some measures but expressed concerns about legal protections and early identification of need. Summary: Ministers present the funding as part of a wider effort to increase inclusion for pupils with SEND in mainstream schools. Stakeholders have given cautious responses and said they will examine the detail. Full details of the government's planned reforms will be published in the Schools White Paper on Monday.