With ChristinaWelsh. Senior Polict Officer, Natspec
There’s a growing focus on what inclusion is and, very recently, on education and career options for young people. But there is still a lack of thinking when you put the two of those together: the education and futures of young people who have additional needs and disabilities, in particular, those in specialist further education colleges.
Natspec, which represents specialist colleges has done its own research with young people attending its member colleges. Christina Welsh, Senior Policy Officer for Natspec, has written for SNJ about their findings, which have been published today (30/7/26)
Young people with the highest support needs redefine inclusion. By Christina Welsh, Natspec
Natspec, the membership body for specialist further education providers in England and Wales, has launched a new research report on inclusion in specialist colleges. The report shares the perspectives of 67 learners and 32 leaders from specialist colleges on what they understand by the term ‘inclusion’ and what makes their college inclusive.
Why did we do the research?
Much of the current discussion about inclusion focuses on mainstream education. As a result, young people and leaders from specialist colleges have been missing from national policy conversations about inclusion, while pre-existing literature is mostly focused on mainstream schools.
Specialist colleges support learners with some of the highest support needs; they have a wealth of experience and expertise in meeting those needs and enabling every learner to participate, achieve and prepare for adulthood. We see their omission from the inclusion debate as a significant gap. Critically, we were concerned that the government risks threatening their inclusion agenda unless it broadens its definition to take account of their views.
What did Natspec’s inclusion research find?
Learners were clear in their messages about inclusion.
Inclusion isn’t about everyone learning in the same place. It’s about every young person learning in the place that’s right for them.
The young people described inclusion as:
- feeling that they belong,
- having genuine choice and control over their lives,
- being listened to,
- building meaningful relationships, and
- being supported to achieve the future they want.
Some young people said their specialist college was the first educational setting where they could simply be themselves. They were surrounded by peers who shared similar experiences, learning in environments designed around their needs, and being supported by skilled professionals working together across education, health and care.
Tailored support equals inclusive experience
Specialist colleges are able to be inclusive because they build the provision around the learner, tailoring the experience to each individual. Highly skilled staff build trusting relationships with learners so they feel safe, supported and valued. Learners are given opportunities to develop and practise skills needed to participate actively in their communities, both during their college years and beyond. Being educated separately from the mainstream—but alongside their peers—for a relatively short time, means these young peeople are better prepared to be included in society post-college.
We also asked what practices could be meaningfully transferred from specialist colleges to a mainstream context. Learners, who shared experiences of being bullied or made to feel different in mainstream schools, wanted better disability training and awareness for the whole setting, including for non-disabled students. Leaders thought with the right investment and a shift in cultural attitudes, there is plenty that mainstream can adopt from practice in a specialist context. However, they saw some features of specialist provision, such as concentrated expertise, highly adapted environments, and the sense of belonging created by a peer group where everyone is disabled, as being a challenge to replicate with mainstream.
Why does this matter?
We now have messages that cannot—and must not—be ignored from disabled young people and relaled professionals who’ve previously been pushed to the sidelines of the inclusion “debate”.
Their experiences provide an important challenge to the narrow interpretation of inclusion underpinning government education policy and proposals.
This research helps create a more complete picture of what it takes for every learner, regardless of their level of need, to participate, belong and thrive. If a narrow understanding of inclusion persists, many young people may be denied the expertise and specialist environment they need to feel included.
An inclusive system needs both mainstream and specialist provision on an equal footing.
What should the government do?
The report recommends that the Department for Education in England and the Welsh Government should:
- Adopt a definition of ‘inclusion’ that is based on ensuring every child and young person receives the right learning programme and the right support in the right environment for the individual.
- Prioritise the voices of young people, including those with the highest needs, in shaping their understanding of an inclusive education system.
- Recognise a fully inclusive education system as including both mainstream and specialist providers, rather than an all-inclusive mainstream sector.
- Develop a strategic plan for specialist provision that complements its measures to improve mainstream inclusion, ensuring specialist colleges are adequately supported and funded so they can continue to deliver high-quality provision and support the wider sector to develop inclusive practices.
- Prioritise the development of a fairer and more straightforward mechanism for allocating specialist placements, including in specialist colleges, to all young people who want and need one.
- Ensure that strategies for improving mainstream inclusion include a strand of work focused on developing disability awareness among non-disabled students so that they are empowered to create a welcoming environment for their disabled peers and those with additional needs.
What do we want from local authorities?
Local authorities in England and Wales should:
- Adopt an approach to inclusion that prioritises ensuring all young people in their local area have access to the right provision in the right place for them.
- Recognise specialist colleges as vital contributors to an inclusive system and key agents in ensuring that all young people have access to the expertise they need to succeed in education and progress into an included future.
- Involve both specialist and mainstream FE and skills providers in developing and delivering on local and regional strategic plans for post school provision for disabled learners and those with additional needs.
- Give significant weight to learner preferences when making decisions about placements, respecting the learner’s own assessment of what matters most to them and where they are most likely to thrive.
How can you support our asks?
We’d be delighted if you could help get our report to those who need to see it by:
- Share the report among your networks, including reposting on social media.
- Share the report with your MP/MS/local decision-makers, asking them to put pressure on the government to rethink its approach to inclusion. We have a template letter you can use to help you do this here
About the author
Christina Welch is a Senior Policy Officer for Natspec, shaping specialist further education policy across Wales and England.
She has worked in the education non-profit sector for nine years, developing national, regional, and global education programmes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Christina was previously a primary school teacher and holds an MA in Development Education and Global Learning from the Institute of Education at UCL.
Christina is passionate about making the system work better for learners with diverse learning needs by amplifying the voices of those whose experiences are too often missing from policy.
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