Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve teacher's knowledge of neurodiversity conditions.

All teachers are teachers of special education needs and disabilities (SEND), and high quality teaching is central to ensuring that pupils with SEND are given the best possible opportunity to achieve at school.

Quality teaching is the most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for all children, particularly those with SEND. From September 2020, all new teachers have benefited from at least three years of evidence based professional development and support, starting with Initial Teacher Training (ITT) based on the new ITT Core Content Framework (CCF), and followed by a new two year induction underpinned by the Early Career Framework (ECF).

All courses must be designed so that trainee teachers can demonstrate that they meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. This includes the requirement in Standard 1, that teachers must set goals that stretch and challenge pupils of all backgrounds, abilities and dispositions as well as Standard 5, that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND.

The CCF sets out a minimum entitlement of the knowledge and experiences that trainees need to enter the profession in the best position possible to teach and support all pupils to succeed. The Department will be conducting a review this year of the CCF and ECF to identify how the frameworks can equip new teachers to be more confident in meeting the needs of pupils with SEND.