In this blog, you will learn:
The key changes being made to SEND following the release of the Schools White Paper.
About Individual Support Plans, EHCPs and some of the new ways to provide specialist support to children with SEND.
How to find and apply for the best local authority SEND jobs.
With the newly released Schools White Paper and the UK government’s plans to reform education and SEND provision, significant changes are expected. Published in February 2026, the Schools White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, proposes new models, requirements and ways to support children and young people with SEND in England.
So, what are the key changes being made to SEND and what do these reforms mean in practice?
From the introduction of Individual Support Plans (ISPs) to a stronger focus on early intervention, discover the key changes being made to SEND and the impact of the Schools White Paper.
What are the key changes being made to SEND?
The key changes being made to SEND are:
The introduction of Individual Support Plans.
A renewed focus on EHCPs.
A new tiered model of support and strengthened specialist provision.
The introduction of National Inclusion Standards.
The introduction of Individual Support Plans
From September 2029, existing Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) will be reassessed and Individual Support Plans (ISPs) will be introduced for children with a wide range of SEND needs.
Schools, nurseries and colleges will have a new legal duty to create an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for every child with SEND. They will be responsible for consulting with parents and drawing up ISPs. The plans will be flexible and set out a child’s needs, what support they should receive day to day and what they hope to achieve.
ISPs will also be provided for children who are transitioning from an EHCP before they move to the new system, ensuring their support continues without interruption. Those moving to ISPs will keep their existing EHCPs until the end of the academic year.
The first group to transition will be students finishing primary, secondary and post-16 education in 2029–30. Assessments will begin in September 2029 and students will move to the new system from September 2030.
According to the Schools White Paper, “All children transitioning from an EHCP to an Individual Support Plan will retain the right to request a mainstream placement and no child will move from a special school or college unless they choose to do so.”
A renewed focus on EHCPs
According to the Department for Education, the number of pupils with EHCPs in 2025 was 482,640, the highest figure on record and twice as many as in 2016. A key change being made to EHCPs is that, by 2035, only children with the most complex needs will qualify for EHCPs.
EHCPs are expected to change, but they will remain in place for children with the most complex needs. New evidence-based Specialist Provision Packages will set out the support available for children and young people. This aims to ensure that children get evidence-based support early and to restore families’ confidence in the system.
Parents will still be able to apply for EHCPs for their children, which will be delivered by local authorities.
Children who already have an EHCP, or who have been assessed as needing one, will keep it until they finish their current phase of education. They will then be reassessed before moving to the next phase.
The local authority will then decide whether the young person needs a Specialist Provision Package and therefore, a continued EHCP. If they do, the local authority will issue a new EHCP based on the appropriate package.
If a child doesn't need a package, they will move to an Individual Support Plan in a mainstream school and receive support through the Universal and Targeted layers.
A new tiered model of support and strengthened specialist provision
Another key change to the SEND system is the new way to determine who receives what support. For children and young people who need additional help accessing education, support will be organised across specialist layers.
Using ISPs, support will be categorised into Targeted, Targeted-Plus, Specialist and Universal tiers to better match a child’s specific level of SEND. Every child or young person with SEND receiving Targeted (including Targeted Plus) and Specialist support will have an ISP.
The first level, Targeted, gives children and young people structured support and evidence-based interventions in their setting. This support is outlined in Individual Support Plans that are developed with parents, with input from education and health care professionals when needed.
Targeted support might involve students receiving help in small groups and receiving reasonable adjustments.
Children and young people receive Targeted Plus support from their setting, with input from education and healthcare professionals, such as Speech and Language Therapists and Educational Psychologists. This is delivered through the ‘Experts at Hand’ programme which is designed to bring specialists into mainstream schools.
Targeted Plus support also provides access to dedicated SEND spaces that provide specialised structured intervention and small-group teaching for pupils.
The third level, Specialist support, provides a higher level of provision for children with complex needs through new Specialist Provision Packages created by education, health and care experts. Only children with Specialist Provision Packages as part of the Specialist Support layer are intended to qualify for new EHCPs.
Universal services are designed to support all children and young people through provision and training, including support for behavioural feeding difficulties, vocabulary development and creating communication-friendly environments.
The introduction of National Inclusion Standards
The government has revealed its plans to create National Inclusion Standards, which will be designed as an evidence-based digital library to guide how schools meet children’s needs by 2028.
According to the Schools White Paper, the National Inclusion Standards will function as a comprehensive framework intended to ensure consistent support across all educational settings.
The National Inclusion Standards will provide resources, identification tools and provisions for teachers and other professionals working in education, health and social care. This will support children and young people with SEND from birth to age 25.
According to the Schools White Paper, the government will invest up to £15 million to build the evidence base for, and then provide, National Inclusion Standards.
An expert panel will be appointed to oversee the development of the National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages and to improve the quality of SEND evidence.
The Schools White Paper said, “The standards will be informed by evidence, working closely with experts, as well as children and their families. They will also set out what all children and families should be able to expect from their school.”
The government aims for the National Inclusion Standards to be in place by 2028 to set out what support children and families should be able to expect from schools.
Local authority SEND recruitment specialists
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