Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the new initial teacher training and early career framework includes content related to (a) identifying children’s social and emotional developmental needs and (b) supporting children with their identified social and emotional developmental needs.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and Early Career Framework covers the first three years or more of a teacher’s career. It sets out a minimum entitlement to training for all new teachers and, following a review, now contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

This includes content on how teaching and modelling a range of social and emotional skills, including how to recognise and understand feelings, manage emotions, and sustain positive relationships, can support pupils’ social and emotional development.

ITT providers must also ensure that their courses enable trainee teachers to meet the Teachers’ Standards, to be recommended for qualified teacher status. The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, which includes those with speech and language challenges.

We are investing over £200 million to improve SEND training for all staff across education settings, and developing national inclusion standards to help teachers identify needs and put evidence-based support in place. From September 2026, all staff will have access to new government-backed training, with further courses from 2027.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to encourage and incentivise mainstream schools to use data-driven assessment tools to identify children’s hidden social, emotional, and mental health needs before they escalate into behavioural issues or necessitate an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department is supporting mainstream schools to take a more evidence‑based approach to early identification of need, including social, emotional and mental health needs.

We are developing National Inclusion Standards, backed by up to £15 million, which will provide schools with evidence‑based identification tools and approaches, including a digital library to support consistent, data‑driven assessment. We are also funding UKRI‑led research to improve early identification and needs assessment methods, to be rolled out by 2028.

Schools are being incentivised through the £1.6 billion Inclusive Mainstream Fund, helping them invest in early intervention and targeted support without requiring an education, health and care plan.

The new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer, backed by £1.8 billion of investment over the next three years, will enable greater access to expert advice and support from education and health professionals, including educational psychologists, speech and language therapists and outreach from specialist settings including alternative provision, into mainstream schools, early years settings, and colleges.

We are also introducing digital Individual Support Plans and a duty on schools to identify and meet needs early.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to help ensure that the proposed school inclusion bases are designed as integrated, short-term bridges back to mainstream education rather than pathways toward permanent exclusion.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Inclusion bases will have specialisms, providing tailored and expert teaching and support for specific groups of children. We know there are lots of great examples of mainstream schools delivering specialist provision through inclusion bases, enabling children to benefit and remain part of mainstream education and wider school life.

Support bases, commissioned by individual settings and trusts will deliver ‘targeted plus’ support, whilst specialist bases, commissioned by the local authority, will deliver ‘specialist’ support.

We will shortly be publishing guidance to help mainstream settings implement high quality inclusion bases, including the importance of supporting integration.

Ofsted consider published destinations data as part of the inspection methodology when they gather inspection evidence to determine grades. The current data collection would not enable destination outcomes to be tracked in this way. Instead, inspectors will explore the extent to which inclusion bases are used in the best interests of pupils and improving their outcomes, as set out in school inspection operating guide for inspectors.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Ofsted or another regulatory body will be mandated to track the destination outcomes of children placed in school inclusion bases.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Inclusion bases will have specialisms, providing tailored and expert teaching and support for specific groups of children. We know there are lots of great examples of mainstream schools delivering specialist provision through inclusion bases, enabling children to benefit and remain part of mainstream education and wider school life.

Support bases, commissioned by individual settings and trusts will deliver ‘targeted plus’ support, whilst specialist bases, commissioned by the local authority, will deliver ‘specialist’ support.

We will shortly be publishing guidance to help mainstream settings implement high quality inclusion bases, including the importance of supporting integration.

Ofsted consider published destinations data as part of the inspection methodology when they gather inspection evidence to determine grades. The current data collection would not enable destination outcomes to be tracked in this way. Instead, inspectors will explore the extent to which inclusion bases are used in the best interests of pupils and improving their outcomes, as set out in school inspection operating guide for inspectors.

Draft Code of Practice on Services, public functions and associations