Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure equal access to education for children with additional learning needs.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

An inclusive education system for all children and young people requires a strong universal offer, built on high-quality adaptive teaching and early, effective support.

To support the development of a more inclusive mainstream system, we are investing £500 million per financial year over the next three years through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF) to support schools, colleges and early years settings with upfront funding to help them move towards becoming more inclusive by design.

We have published guidance for school leaders on how to develop an Inclusion Strategy and use their IMF allocations alongside core budgets to more effectively invest in inclusive approaches and activities that address barriers to learning and participation.

Beyond this investment, we have published guidance on Inclusion Bases, assistive technology, and other resources designed to help education and early years settings deliver high-quality inclusive learning environments and practice. Additionally, following changes to Ofsted inspections, settings are now held to account for their support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), through a new focus on inclusion. The renewed inspection framework sets out expectations for how leaders should ensure needs are identified and met, and how barriers to learning and engagement are removed.

The government is committed to supporting local areas to create high-quality places that are suitable to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, to enable more children and young people to access the right support in their local area. This will enable them to learn alongside their peers and siblings, instead of travelling a long way to a specialist school.

The department is investing at least £3.7 billion in high needs capital funding between 2025/26 and 2029/30, to support local authorities to provide places for children and young people with SEND, or who require alternative provision, across early years settings, schools, and colleges.

This funding is expected to fund a transformative expansion of inclusion bases, as well as adaptations to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of mainstream settings. It can also be used to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

Additionally, the department is investing around £1.8 billion over three years to develop a new Experts at Hand offer, giving mainstream settings access to specialist support from key health and education professionals.

Our overall package of reforms will ensure every child gets the right support at the right time.

Publication of Legal Advice on Local Government Reorganisation

Found: 2024; HC Deb, 17 June 2025, col 163 (Dr Caroline Johnson MP); HC Deb, 22 July 2025, col 743 (Alison Bennett