Its schools white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, and the related consultation, SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First, were published on 23 February 2026.
The SEND reforms are intended to address a system which the Government accepts has let down too many children and families. Its stated ambition is to provide support earlier, closer to home and more consistently across the country. Its proposals are built around five principles: support should be early, local, fair, effective and shared between education, health, care services and families.
The Government has followed up its white paper with numerous publications. That material contains new terminology, which may be confusing for parents. In this jargon buster article, I explain the most important SEND terminology, what each term could mean for your child, and the timeline for the implementation of these SEND reforms.
It is important to remember that the new SEND system is being implemented over several years. Therefore, with details emerging, there will be more terminology to be added to my jargon buster. As the detail behind the proposals is published, it is important to remain abreast of the changes and the new lexicon.
SEND
SEND means special educational needs and disabilities.
A child or young person may have SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which means they need educational support that is additional to, or different from, the support generally provided to children of the same age.
The Government’s reform programme covers children and young people from birth to age 25. It includes early years settings, schools, further education colleges and some other post-16 providers.
The universal offer
The universal offer is the inclusive teaching and support that every mainstream nursery, school and college will be expected to provide under the reforms.
The aim is to make support for commonly occurring needs part of everyday education, rather than requiring a child to go through a lengthy assessment or obtain an Education, Health and Care Plan before meaningful help becomes available.
In practice, a stronger universal offer could include:
- teachers adapting how lessons are presented;
- accessible learning materials;
- reasonable adjustments;
- support with communication, sensory needs or emotional regulation;
- properly trained staff;
- accessible buildings and facilities; and
- earlier identification of a child’s needs.
The Government proposes to support this through additional funding, workforce training, National Inclusion Standards and greater access to specialists.
A universal offer does not mean that every child will receive the same support. It means that every setting should be equipped to identify and respond to a broad range of needs, while providing more individualised help where necessary.
Inclusive mainstream education
Inclusive mainstream education means enabling more children with SEND to receive appropriate support in ordinary nurseries, schools and colleges alongside their peers.
The proposals are not simply about placing more children in mainstream settings. A placement can only be genuinely inclusive if the setting has the expertise, resources, facilities and external professional support needed to meet the child’s needs.
The Government says it will invest almost £4 billion over three years in building the new system, including staff training, specialist expertise and more accessible provision. Special schools will continue to educate children with the most complex needs while also sharing expertise with mainstream settings.
National Inclusion Standards
The proposed National Inclusion Standards will describe the support that mainstream education settings are expected to provide.
Their purpose is to create greater consistency across England, so that the help a child receives is less dependent on where they live or which school they attend. They should also give parents a benchmark against which to assess whether an education setting is meeting its responsibilities.
The standards are expected to cover the identification of needs, inclusive teaching, interventions, reasonable adjustments and access to specialist support. They will sit alongside an updated SEND Code of Practice.
The three layers of SEND support
Above the universal offer, the Government proposes three flexible layers of additional support:
- Targeted Support
- Targeted Plus Support
- Specialist Support
These layers are not intended to operate as a rigid ladder. A child should not have to complete one layer before being allowed to receive another. Support should respond to the child’s needs and should be capable of increasing, reducing or changing over time.
Targeted Support
Targeted Support will usually be delivered by staff in the child’s nursery, school or college.
It could include:
- structured small-group interventions;
- adapted teaching;
- support with literacy, language or communication;
- adjustments to the classroom environment;
- help with emotional regulation; or
- other reasonable adjustments.
The child’s needs, support and intended outcomes will be recorded in an Individual Support Plan.
Targeted Plus Support
Targeted Plus Support will bring additional professional expertise into mainstream settings.
This could include help from speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, educational psychologists or specialist teachers through the proposed Experts at Hand service.
Targeted Plus Support may also involve an inclusion base or, where appropriate, a short-term placement in alternative provision or a special school to help a child re-engage with education.
Specialist Support
Specialist Support will be for children and young people whose needs go beyond what a mainstream setting can routinely provide.
The Government proposes that this support will be defined through national Specialist Provision Packages. Where a child qualifies for a package, the package is expected to form the basis of an improved Education, Health and Care Plan and provide a legal entitlement to the specified provision.
Individual Support Plan
An Individual Support Plan, or ISP, will be a digital record of a child or young person’s needs, daily support and intended outcomes.
Under the proposals, maintained nursery schools, school-based nurseries, schools and colleges will have a legal duty to prepare an ISP for every child or young person with identified SEND. This will include children who also have an Education, Health and Care Plan.
The school will prepare the plan in collaboration with the child or young person and their parents. It should be updated as needs change and should help information move with the child when they change class, school or phase of education.
An ISP is expected to record:
- the child’s identified needs;
- the support and adjustments being provided;
- who is responsible for delivering the support;
- the outcomes the support is intended to achieve; and
- how progress will be monitored and reviewed.
The ISP should provide a clear picture of what the school has agreed to do. However, an ISP will not necessarily provide the same legal protection as an EHCP. The Government describes ISPs as legally required plans, while EHCPs will continue to provide statutory protection for children requiring more intensive or complex provision. In time, we will learn the precise status of an ISP and a parent’s rights.
Specialist Provision Packages
Specialist Provision Packages, or SPPs, are proposed nationally defined packages of education, health and care support for children and young people with complex needs.
An independent panel of education, health and care experts is expected to develop the packages, taking account of evidence and the views of children and families. A child may qualify for more than one package if they have needs in several areas.
For example, a package might describe the support required by a child with a significant learning disability, a physical disability requiring personal care, or a combination of complex communication, sensory and health needs.
The Government’s intention is that these packages will reduce geographical variation. In theory, a child with a particular combination of needs should have access to the same core standard of support wherever they live in England.
Draft Specialist Provision Packages are expected in autumn 2026, with final versions due during 2027/28. The Government also plans to design a new needs assessment process around the packages.
Education, Health and Care Plan
An Education, Health and Care Plan, or EHCP, is a statutory plan for a child or young person who requires provision beyond that ordinarily available through SEN support.
The Government has confirmed that EHCPs will be retained and improved. Under the proposed system, they will be focused on children and young people who need more intensive or complex support than mainstream settings can routinely provide. New EHCPs will be based on Specialist Provision Packages.
Children and young people who already have an EHCP will not be moved into the new system immediately. Transition is expected to begin from 2030 and should take place only at natural points, such as moving from primary to secondary school or from secondary school to college. No child should be transferred midway through a phase of education.
Experts at Hand
Experts at Hand is a new service intended to bring education and health professionals directly into mainstream nurseries, schools and colleges.
Professionals may include:
- speech and language therapists;
- occupational therapists;
- educational psychologists;
- specialist teachers; and
- experts from special schools and alternative provision.
Children should not need a formal diagnosis or an EHCP to benefit from the service. Access is intended to be based on the child’s identified needs. Support may include observing children, advising teachers, working with groups, training staff and involving parents in the development of strategies.
Local areas are expected to begin introducing Experts at Hand from September 2026. The service will be phased, so what is available initially may differ between areas according to local priorities and capacity.
Experts at Hand is intended to be additional to existing statutory support. It will not replace provision specified in an EHCP.
Inclusion bases
An inclusion base will be a dedicated space within a mainstream school where children can receive targeted or specialist support while remaining part of the school community.
An inclusion base might contain:
- sensory spaces;
- breakout rooms;
- accessible facilities;
- quieter areas for emotional regulation;
- rooms for specialist interventions; and
- staff trained to support particular needs.
The Government intends every secondary school and an equivalent number of primary schools to have an inclusion base. The aim is to give children access to additional help locally, without requiring a permanent special school placement.
An inclusion base should not become a place where children with SEND are routinely separated from their peers without proper consideration of their needs. Its effectiveness will depend on how it is staffed, how children access it and how it connects with teaching in the rest of the school.
Experts at Hand and inclusion bases: what is the difference?
The two terms are connected, but they describe different things.
Experts at Hand is a service which brings professional expertise into mainstream education.
An inclusion base is a physical space within a mainstream school where support, interventions or regulation may take place.
A child might receive help from an Experts at Hand professional in an inclusion base, but the services are not interchangeable.
Local SEND Reform Plan
Local authorities, Integrated Care Boards and other local partners will be required to work together through local area SEND partnerships.
Each partnership is expected to produce a Local SEND Reform Plan explaining how the new system will be developed and delivered in the area. Parent carer representatives and voluntary and community organisations are expected to be involved.
Inclusion Strategy
Schools and colleges are expected to publish an Inclusion Strategy setting out how they plan to meet the needs of all pupils and use their funding to become more inclusive.
This should provide a useful source of information for parents, particularly when choosing a school or asking how a setting intends to support a child. It may also help parents compare a school’s stated approach with what happens in practice.
Updated SEND Code of Practice
The SEND Code of Practice is statutory guidance explaining how organisations should carry out their legal duties towards children and young people with SEND.
The Government intends to update the Code as part of the reform programme. The revised version is likely to explain the universal offer, National Inclusion Standards, Individual Support Plans, the three layers of support and the relationship between ISPs, Specialist Provision Packages and EHCPs.
Until new legislation and guidance take effect, the existing legal framework continues to apply.
Alternative provision
Alternative provision, or AP, is education arranged outside a child’s ordinary school, often because of exclusion, illness or difficulties engaging with a mainstream placement.
Under the proposed model, alternative provision may provide short-term targeted support. Special schools and alternative provision settings may also act as outreach hubs, sharing expertise with mainstream schools.
Any placement should be based on the child’s individual needs and education. It should not be used simply because a mainstream school lacks the resources or confidence to provide appropriate SEND support.
Education otherwise than at school
Education otherwise than at school, or EOTAS, is special educational provision provided outside a school or college where education in a conventional setting would be inappropriate for the child or young person.
A separate Government consultation is considering support, oversight and quality assurance for children receiving EOTAS, education outside school for health reasons or alternative provision through accredited online providers.
EOTAS should not be confused with elective home education.
Best Start Family Hubs
Best Start Family Hubs are intended to provide early help and advice to families in their local communities.
The Government proposes a trained SEND practitioner in every hub to help parents understand their child’s development and access support. The national rollout is expected to begin during 2026/27.
The emphasis is on identifying needs and supporting families earlier, including before a child starts school.
School Profiles
A School Profile will bring information about a school or college together in one place, giving parents a broader picture of the setting.
Although the full details are still being developed, School Profiles are intended to provide more useful information than traditional performance measures alone. For parents of children with SEND, the value of a profile will depend on whether it provides meaningful information about inclusion, accessibility, specialist support and outcomes for pupils with additional needs.
Mediation, dispute resolution and the SEND Tribunal
The Government proposes improvements to mediation and dispute resolution, with the aim of resolving more disagreements without lengthy legal proceedings.
School complaints systems are also expected to change. Complaints concerning SEND may be heard by panels containing a SEND expert who is independent of the school.
The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), commonly called the SEND Tribunal, will remain an important legal safeguard for disputes concerning EHCP assessments, plans and disability discrimination.
It is important to state that parents should not assume that by using mediation or a complaints procedure, this will automatically protect a tribunal deadline. Specialist education legal advice may be needed where a formal decision has been issued.
What will happen to special schools?
Special schools will remain an essential part of the SEND system.
The Government proposes a dual role for special schools:
- continuing to educate children and young people with the most complex needs; and
- acting as centres of expertise which support mainstream settings.
If a child has a special school place in September 2029, the Government says that place will be protected and the child will be able to remain in special education until they complete their education, unless the family chooses otherwise. The child will also keep their EHCP.
SEND reform timeline
February to May 2026
The Government published its schools white paper and main SEND reform consultation on 23 February 2026.
September 2026
Local areas are expected to begin delivering the first phase of Experts at Hand. Initial support is expected to focus particularly on group and whole-class approaches, including communication, attention, emotional regulation and sensory needs.
Autumn 2026
The Government expects to publish draft Specialist Provision Packages. These should provide the first detailed indication of how nationally defined packages of support might work. I will review those proposals in due course.
2026 to 2028
This is described as the investment and system-building phase. It is expected to include:
- national SEND workforce training;
- development of Experts at Hand;
- funding through the Inclusive Mainstream Fund;
- publication of National Inclusion Standards;
- development of Specialist Provision Packages;
- expansion of inclusion bases and special school places.
2027/28
Final Specialist Provision Packages are expected to be published. The new needs assessment process will be developed with children, families and professionals.
September 2028
The Government expects schools to begin delivering a reformed, broader curriculum. This forms part of the wider schools’ reform programme rather than the SEND reforms alone.
2028/29
Investment and preparation will continue. The Government currently expects the principal new SEND legislation to come into force from September 2029.
September 2029
The first children entering the reformed system are expected to undergo the new needs assessment process. Legislation concerning EHCP reforms, Individual Support Plans and National Inclusion Standards is expected to take effect. The first children may begin to use Specialist Provision Packages.
September 2030 onwards
The first children with existing EHCPs are expected to transition to the new system as they move naturally between phases of education.
Children will not be transferred midway through a phase. A child with a special school place in September 2029 will be able to remain in special education until they finish their education.
Conclusion
There can be little argument that the Government’s SEND reform programme is ambitious. Its emphasis on early intervention, more inclusive mainstream education, national standards and easier access to professional support responds to the frustrations families have experienced. This is good news.
However, the final grade for these reforms will be determined by delivery and how parents feel the reforms have improved life for their daughter or son. National terminology and new digital plans will not, on their own, provide children with effective support. The reformed system will need enough trained school staff, therapists, educational psychologists, suitable school places and accessible facilities. It will also need clear legal duties, meaningful parental participation and effective remedies when support is not provided.
For now, parents can take comfort that EHCPs have not been abolished and the present legal framework continues to apply. The transition is intended to be gradual, with the main legislative changes expected from September 2029 and movement from existing EHCP arrangements beginning at natural transition points from 2030.
As the plans unfold, I will continue to examine what the changes mean in practice and, most importantly, how they will affect children and young people with SEND.
The articles, webinars or podcasts published on this website are current at the date of publication and are for reference purposes only. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. We cannot assume legal responsibility for the accuracy of any particular statement. Specific legal advice about your own circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action.
