Following on from the £3 billion capital funding extravaganza that Matt explained recently, the Department for Education has announced a much smaller sum for SEND training across the education age range:
“We are announcing a new investment of £200m for this parliament for settings to upskill staff on supporting SEND pupils. There will be offers available for all EY, Schools and FE settings…
“The training offer will differ based on the setting (EY, Schools, Colleges). However, the training is expected to cover adaptive teaching styles, assistive technologies, working effectively with parents to find ways to make every classroom truly inclusive.
“New training is also being developed specifically for support staff (including Teaching Assistants), in collaboration with the sector, ensuring support staff feel equipped and confident to support all students with SEND”
DfE press notice
What’s already on offer?
There is already a plethora of different training on offer across the sector, but the Department for Education specifically funds an £11.76 million contract called the Universal SEND Services programme. It’s delivered by Whole School SEND, part of nasen, with help from two training charities, The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and the Autism Education Trust.
This contract was due to end last March, but was extended for a year, ending this March. I am a member of the advisory group for USS, and I know everyone involved has worked really hard over the past few years pushing the training out across the country. There is more to be done, though, as plenty of schools are still unaware of it. To me, it’s a no-brainer, it’s free, it’s delivered by trusted names, and it’s endorsed by the Department for Education. The primary point there is that it’s F.R.E.E. Parents can also use their online resources–and of course, teaching assistants are included in the main training offer.
You can read our articles about Whole School SEND here.
More money = good news. But as Tes reported last week, research shows teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate through failure of the system to provide sufficient support to meet pupils’ “increasingly complex needs.” Without a solid investment in specialist staff, teachers, and support staff, without a more humane curriculum, and a less punishing workload, there won’t be enough teachers, well-trained or not, to keep schools open, let alone put them in new resource bases and units.
Email from Bridget
On 16 January, the Education Secretary emailed the news to teachers…
…we will develop high quality resources and materials that you can adapt and use across your workforce. These will be developed with the sector, and adaptable to your setting’s context and learner needs.
For schools and colleges
From next year, teachers and leaders will be able to sign up for a flexible training programme that will give you the tools to support a wide range of needs. This will include a focus on developing adaptive teaching strategies, evidence-informed interventions for supporting a wide range of needs, and how to work effectively with communities and parents.
Crucially, we know how important teaching assistants and support staff are in our schools and colleges. We will ensure they are included in this new professional development offer, with new programmes available for them as well.
For early years
We need to get this right from the very start of a child’s education. For all early years practitioners, a new national CPD programme will provide free, accessible training focused on inclusive practice, child development, and practical strategies for supporting children with SEND as soon as their education journey begins.
Next steps
This is a crucial step in our mission to reform the SEND system and drive inclusivity, and we will publish more detail on this soon. It builds on our £3 billion investment announced in December to create tens of thousands more specialist places in mainstream and special schools – matching those places with the skilled educators needed.
Together, these investments will mean more children and young people with SEND thrive in education settings close to home, taught by staff who understand their needs and will help them succeed.
This change cannot happen without you. You will make the difference.
Thank you for everything you do. I look forward to sharing more details on our SEND reforms and working with you to build an inclusive future for every child.
Using AI to improve SEND?
Something I have previously raised in these advisory group meetings is the importance of training teachers to use artificial intelligence (AI) for resource provision and to facilitate training. The likes of Twinkl already offer AI-derived resources, and many teachers also use AI to create lesson plans and so on.
That’s not to say this is part of this new funding but using AI to create bespoke support resources individualised to a child’s needs would be really interesting to explore. Of course, this would be much more difficult if a child hasn’t had a proper assessment of need — this is needed so the support has a much improved chance of working.
AI from Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Claude et al, are improving every day. There is scope for a well-trained national SEND model, based on well-evidenced best practice. Maybe this is already being considered, but then again…
In any case, teachers really need training in prompt writing, particularly for SEND.
But imagine if you could plug a properly specified and quantified EHCP into an LLM, and it could spit out a bespoke programme that can be evaluated and measured for progress?
This is what the government is getting so, so wrong about EHCPs—they merely spell out the provision needed after a clear assessment of need and hold schools (actually LAs) accountable for providing what is required.
If SEN Support was statutory, you could do the same here–every child with SEND would have an assessment of need, and the provision would be set out clearly. They don’t need to cost very much—if anything additional—in a mainstream setting, but they do ensure needs are clearly stated and provided for. The cost usually rises if needs aren’t met at this earlier stage.
Of course, now that some genius at the DfE has decided to junk the standardised EHCP template, this will make it much harder to create a digitised, standardised input that would be a vital component of an AI-driven classroom-based support plan. Well done, that person (not).
A teacher could then enter how a child had responded to this bespoke plan—one that’s not solely based on the specific teacher or SENCO’s own level of expertise (although that would clearly help). The properly-trained AI model could then decide if an outcome had been reliably met. This could then be discussed with the parents/carers and teacher to see if they agreed with the AI assessment, and revised targets set.
Betcha didn’t think of that in your SEND Development sessions, did you? It’s okay, you can steal it and pretend you did. I’m cynical, but not precious.
Early Years SENCOs
However, missing in the Universal SEND Services training—because it isn’t commissioned—has been a specific focus on Early Years –and we all know how vital this is. So it seems like this is being rectified, and that’s very good news (hey, look, we can be positive!) An early years training offer as part of the Universal SEND Services programme would be a much-needed addition, if that’s what’s planned—and if not, it should be.
Everyone knows that early identification of emerging needs and knowledge of what to do to support them is vital-and that must start in pre-school settings. Too often, a child enters reception with clear needs and no assessment of what they are—or a plan for how to help them thrive, whether that’s an EHCP or via SEN Support.
What has already been established is the Level 3 Early Years SENCO course, created as part of the SEND Improvement Plan by the previous government. This isn’t the same as general SEND training, but it’s clear from looking at DfE contract commissioning that it’s being recommissioned through to 2028, with a possible year’s extension, at a cost of £12,000,000 (£15m inc vat).
The Early Years SENCO is tasked with:
- ensuring all staff in the setting understand their responsibilities to children with SEN and how they should identify and meet SEN needs
- advising and supporting colleagues
- ensuring parents are closely involved throughout and that their views are taken account of
- liaising with external professionals or agencies
You can read more about what this role is here. But to me, a Level 3 award has always seemed too low a level for the responsibility entailed, considering school-age SENCOs get an NPQ. But even that is a downgrade on the original NASENCO award outlined in the SEND Code of Practice, and that was really valued by many SENCOs. Others say they prefer a shorter, professional award rather than the more rigorous academic one, although clearly, for the value of knowledge gained, there is no competition.
How are Early Years SENCOs working?
An evaluation of a 2022-24 version of the course reported broadly positive feedback with 95% rating the course content “excellent” (64%) or “good” (31%), and 95% agreed it was appropriate to their needs. The main negative theme was time and workload intensity, with 22% dropping out.
The current one-year contract and the previous iteration that was evaluated are run by Best Practice Network Ltd. Its 1000 places were fully subscribed at a cost to the DfE of £945.5K. At the time of writing, I can’t find anything to say if BPN has won this new contract, but it’s a fair bet.
Assuming there isn’t much change needed in the course, the figure awarded has the potential to train at least 10 times the current number, though over three years. Obviously, there are many unknown factors, but all will become clear very soon.
Previously, the course was only open to those employed by private early years providers and childminders. It would be good if this were expanded to those in state-funded settings. It will also be interesting to see how they have tackled the drop-out rate, which was largely driven by the heavy workload alongside their usual roles.
Completion of the course clearly gives EY practitioners more confidence in SEND. What’s needed is higher levels of ongoing training.
This £12m will likely be included in the numbers provided today.
Updating the SEND CoP
The information put out in advance also says the SEND Code of Practice 2015 will be updated to include “a new expectation…confirming that all staff in every nursery, school and college should receive training on SEND and inclusion.”
Two points here. Firstly, it’s good news—it’s what we’ve been asking for. Secondly, if they’re updating the SEND Code of Practice, it’s likely this won’t be the only update to it. This is statutory guidance, and it should, ideally, be under constant review. It’s very out of date, referring to, for example, NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and, as mentioned, the NASENCO award.
It also needs to include a definition of inclusion. Does the “Inclusion taskforce” have one yet?
As it stands, the SEND Code of Practice (chapter six) already includes information on training. It has expectations about securing expertise and embedding SEND in ongoing CPD for all teaching and support staff. It’s explicit that SEND should not sit with a single specialist, linking outcomes for pupils with SEN to mainstream teaching quality and staff development.
The announcement seems to be more detail on who it means by “all staff” (which is still pretty explicit), but it includes early years and further education and that can only be a good thing.
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Also read:
Key Content
Also read:
- Beyond EHCPs: Why Inclusion Needs More Than a Document
- The Unacceptable Truth: 20 SEND legal rights at risk from the Government’s SEND reforms
- How health and family support systems are failing children starting school
- WEBINAR RECORDING! The implications for children’s legal rights to EHCPs and EOTAS of the Government’s SEND proposals
- When things go right: Shining a light on SEND Practitioners making a positive impact [Giveaway!]
- From suspicion to support: why the Government’s child protection reforms matter for disabled children
- Have your say on the future of transport for disabled children and young people
- Unison voices major concerns over SEND reform health plans for sick and disabled children out of school in the EOTAS consultation
- Top Tips for the EOTAS & EHCP consultation: Protect your child’s rights to statutory SEND support
- Navigating constraints: Why a former PCF chair thinks the current model is missing the mark for families
- Dear Secretary of State for Education, Lucy Powell: an Open Letter from Special Needs Jungle and SEND legal charity SOS!SEN
- Research: Disabled young people define inclusive education as “learning in the place that’s right for them”
- Consultation: Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school. What’s new, what’s missing and what you need to know
- £200 million for SEND training announced—but will there be anyone left to train?
- The complex SEND needs teacher training gap in mainstream schools and how to fix it
- What’s in the Curriculum and Assessment Review for children with SEND?
- How government-funded schools’ SEND training has young people’s experiences at its core.
- Invest in early specialist therapy for all deaf children, teenager, Hope, tells the Government
- The project helping schools and parents find common ground, so children with SEND can thrive in mainstream secondary
- For children with SEND and their parents, a compassionate teacher is key
- Paula McGowan: We need mandatory autism and learning disability training in education settings to change culture, hearts, and minds
- How will the Government’s new NPQ SENCO qualification improve SEND provision?
- In support of striking teaching staff… SEND children need the right support and so do their teachers
- Supporting SEND pupils and their families: 20 free top tips for instant impact
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She is a rare disease & chronic pain patient advocate with Ehlers Danlos syndrome.
- The Unacceptable Truth: 20 SEND legal rights at risk from the Government’s SEND reforms - September 9, 2026
- Dear Secretary of State for Education, Lucy Powell: an Open Letter from Special Needs Jungle and SEND legal charity SOS!SEN - August 4, 2026
- Research: Disabled young people define inclusive education as “learning in the place that’s right for them” - July 30, 2026
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