Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all mainstream schools can offer an inclusive education to all children with special educational needs.

We are committed to inclusive education of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and the progressive removal of barriers to learning and participation in mainstream education. This commitment is reflected in the law on SEND and underpins all aspects of the SEND system. We have made our expectation clear that every school is a school for pupils with SEND and that every teacher is a teacher of pupils with SEND.

To support mainstream schools to meet the needs of pupils with SEND effectively, we will provide, for example, an extra £780 million in high needs funding next year. This figure is an increase of 12% compared to this year, bringing the total amount for supporting pupils with the most complex needs (including pupils in mainstream schools who have an education, health and care plan) to £7.2 billion. This increase will be the largest year-on-year increase since the high needs funding block was created in 2013.

We have also launched a review of the SEND system, which is considering how the system has evolved since 2014, how it can be made to work best for all families and how we can ensure quality of provision is the same across the country. The review is also looking at how all schools and colleges can provide the best possible support to enable all children and young people with SEND to thrive and prepare for adulthood.

Our commitment to support for pupils with SEND is also reflected in the teacher-training approach that special educational provision is underpinned by high quality teaching. As part of teachers’ initial training, qualified teachers must have demonstrated their ability to recognise and respond to a wide range of pupils’ needs, including pupils with SEND.

Additionally, a SEND schools’ workforce contract worth £3.9 million has been in place over the period 2018 to 2020 to equip the workforce to deliver high quality teaching to pupils with all types of SEND.