COMMENT
What are the proposed changes to SEND?
With a new system of SEND support and funding on the horizon, the Alliance’s Caroline Wadham breaks down the government’s proposed changes and what it means for England’s early years sector
Caroline is the Alliance's press and external affairs officer, leading on the organisation's media work and supporting a wide range of policy and campaigns activity.
Earlier this year, the Department for Education (DfE) published plans to implement a new system of support and funding for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The reforms, which aim to ensure an “inclusive education for every child” and improve “the quality and speed that families can access support” will be implemented over the next several years.
Below, we break down the key changes and when to expect them.
A universal offer
The new system will include a universal offer aiming to
deliver “high-quality teaching and support for all from early years to age 25” including new National Inclusion Standards, which will detail support that should be available at every mainstream setting, in addition to plans to update reasonable adjustments guidance and a revision of the SEND Code of Practice.
Alongside this, three additional layers of support will be available for the children who need it.
Three layers of support
Targeted: This layer will provide for children who require some additional support from their setting including all with identified SEND. The support will include Individual Support Plans (ISPs) which will record the needs of children with SEND, the support they’re receiving and intended outcomes.
Schools, including maintained and school-based nurseries, will have a duty to provide ISPs for children who need them. The government has also committed to work with private, voluntary and independent early years settings (PVIs) and childminders to “understand how these will work in their settings”.
Targeted Plus: This layer is tailored for children who require both support from their education setting and from other education and healthcare professionals.
In addition to the aforementioned ‘targeted’ provision, this layer will also include support from Experts at Hand, a new service which brings in a range of specialists including speech and occupational therapists and educational psychologists.
Specialist: This layer is for children with the most complex needs and will include new specialist provision packages which will be created by an independent panel of education, health and care experts in discussion with children and families. The child’s education, health and care plan (EHCP) will give them a legal right to the support set out in their specialist provision package.
The government has confirmed that "for children under five who have been identified as having complex needs, [it will] work with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to introduce a fast track for a Specialist Provision Package and EHCP". It has also promised that children and young people will be able to "move between layers of support as their needs change over time".
Available funding
Best Start Family Hubs: The government will invest £200 million over three years to improve the SEND offer in Best Start Family Hubs, with the funding used to employ a family-facing SEND practitioner in every hub to support children with additional needs and their families.
Training: The government has confirmed that a new training package of over £200 million over three years is available to all staff working across early years, schools and post-16 settings to support staff to “build inclusive learning environments”.
Inclusive Early Years Fund: Early years settings will receive a combined total of £47 million through the new Inclusive Early Years Fund (IEYF) in 2026 to 2027, as part of a wider ‘Inclusive Mainstream Fund’ for early years settings, schools and colleges. Separate to the existing Special Educational Needs Inclusion Fund (SENIF), this funding will be given directly to providers and will not rely on child-specific assessments or an application process.
The funding aims to help providers adopt setting-wide inclusive practices, reduce reliance on individual child-based funding applications and enable early intervention for children with SEND.
In recent guidance issued to local authorities, the DfE confirmed that local authorities must only fund early years providers that deliver the government’s early entitlements. It also said that providers in receipt of the IEYF should receive an amount “substantial enough to effect meaningful change in inclusive practice at setting level” recommended to be in the region of £1,000 per setting.
Local authorities are expected to detail how they will be distributing this funding, and how much they are likely to allocate, to central government and local providers before the end of May 2026. Final allocations should be confirmed before the end of August 2026, and eligible providers should receive a single lump-sum payment before the end of September 2026.
2026-2028:
The government will:
- start investing in the new Inclusive Mainstream Fund
- consult on early years SEND funding reforms (with changes expected to come into effect in 2027-28)
- start investing in 'Experts at Hand' programme
- introduce the new SEND training package from September 2026
- introduce ISPs update the SEND Code of Practice
2029 onwards:
The government will:
- introduce specialist provision packages from September 2029
- start reviewing the National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages from 2031
- fully embed the new SEND system by 2035
Respond to the consultation
The government has put forward a number of proposed changes to “improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including early, fair support, with shared accountabilities across local partners” as part of a consultation which is running until Monday 18 May 2026.
You can submit your response at bit.ly/U5_SENDconsultation2026.
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