As reported by the Guardian, education secretary Bridget Phillipson has announced plans to make mainstream schools assess pupils with special needs and create Individual Support Plans, raising concerns about added workload
The proposals are designed to widen access to tailored help for the 1.3 million state-educated children identified as having additional needs but who do not currently qualify for an Education, Health and Care Plan, the statutory document that guarantees individualised provision.
To support the shift, the Department for Education will introduce national inclusion standards intended to reduce variation in support between different parts of the country. Schools and colleges are set to receive £1.6bn over three years to strengthen in-house provision, while a further £1.8bn will go to local authorities to recruit specialist staff that schools can access. An additional £200m has been earmarked for teacher training.
Teaching unions and MPs have questioned whether the funding will match the scale of the task. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said that while extra funding for inclusion was welcome, the sums involved were limited. He argued that, on average, the allocation would stretch only to a part-time teaching assistant in a primary school and two assistants in a secondary.
Concerns have also been raised in Parliament. Ian Lavery said schools must be properly resourced if they are to meet pupils’ needs, warning that without sufficient funding the ambition of the reforms would be difficult to realise.
