Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the (a) identification and (b) support for neurodivergent girls at school.

This government’s ambition is that all children with special educational needs receive the right support to succeed in their education.

We have established a neurodivergence task and finish group, chaired by Professor Karen Guldberg from Birmingham University, to provide an expert view and make recommendations on how to best meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people within mainstream education settings. Additionally, the Expert Advisory Group (EAG) for inclusion, led by Tom Rees, is providing sector-led advice on inclusive education practice.

The department introduced the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme in 2024. The programme deploys health and education specialists to build teacher and staff capacity to identify and better meet the needs of neurodivergent children in mainstream primary schools and was delivered in over 1650 (around 10%) of all mainstream primary schools in its first year.

Building on this success, the programme has been extended for the 2025/26 financial year to a further cohort of around 1200 additional mainstream primary schools.

The programme is being evaluated, and learning from delivery of PINS approach is informing policy development around how schools support neurodivergent children.