Lord Addington

Section 5(5B) of the Education Act 2005 places a clear duty on Ofsted to report on how well schools meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). During all inspections, inspectors give particular attention to the experiences and outcomes of pupils who face barriers to learning, including those with SEND. Our new inspection framework has ‘inclusion’ as a specific graded area for the first time, ensuring all children are supported to achieve and thrive regardless of need or background. They evaluate how leaders support these pupils, the rationale for their approach, and the evidence underpinning it. This includes discussions with leaders, reviewing data, speaking with pupils, sampling cases and considering parents’ views. Inspection reports always include an evaluation of the experiences and achievement of pupils with SEND. Further detail is set out in Ofsted’s attached toolkit.

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ Schools White Paper and consultation on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform included a commitment to update the SEND Code of Practice.

This will include setting out refreshed ‘Areas of Development’, replacing the current ‘Areas of Need’, to better reflect key areas of child development. In the consultation, we sought views on five proposed areas of development: executive function; motor and physical; sensory; speech, language and communication; and social and emotional development.

These will underpin new National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages. The Standards will set out what ordinarily available provision should be available across the 0-25 system, as well as evidence-based tools, strategies and approaches for educators to identify and support children and young people with additional needs.

We are reviewing consultation responses before setting out the government’s response and next steps, including any amendments to the ’Areas of Development’. We will consult separately on proposed Code changes.

The Experts at Hand offer is primarily focused on providing mainstream settings with expert advice and guidance from education and healthcare experts to help them identify and meet a range of special educational needs including neurodiverse conditions. This includes strengthening early identification and supporting more effective and inclusive practice.

Experts at Hand works alongside existing statutory provision and does not replace established school led approaches or specialist one-to-one services, including speech and language therapy and occupational therapy.

Experts at Hand is in addition to enhanced teacher and support staff training to ensure all schools can provide a high-quality universal offer, and new National Inclusion Standards supporting teachers to use evidence-based strategies to identify and respond to pupils' needs.

Access to support should not be dependent on a child or young person having a diagnosis, and a diagnosis alone does not help a teacher know what strategies to use to support that child in the classroom.

The department is clear that teachers and educators should use plain English and commonly understood terms when communicating support for children and young people with special educational needs.

As part of our special educational needs and disabilities reforms, we will place a duty on settings to produce an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for any child or young person receiving targeted, targeted plus or specialist support. ISPs will be developed by settings together with parents and young people, giving every child or young person receiving targeted or specialist support a clear and consistent record of their needs and the help they receive.

Individual Support Plans (ISPs) will provide a record of need and provision for all children or young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), including those with an education, health and care plan. ISPs will enable settings to work alongside parents, providing a single, consistent record of a child’s needs, support or the reasonable adjustments which are in place and what further changes or adaptations may be needed.

Under the proposals, where there are concerns about provision, parents and young people would be able to raise these directly with the setting, including through the improved schools complaints process where necessary. We are proposing to strengthen this complaints process by including an independent SEND expert on panels to consider complaints, ensuring parents can have confidence.

We will take this forward alongside wider work set out in the Schools White Paper to improve the whole school complaints system, including exploring digital solutions and setting out clearer handling processes.

The department is committed to supporting the effective use of assistive technology to help children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) achieve and thrive in mainstream education. We recognise that assistive technology can play a key role in removing barriers to learning, and many education settings are already using it for this purpose, as well as to build confidence, independence and promote greater inclusion.

We are supporting settings to make informed decisions about assistive technology and increase confidence. For example, we have invested over £1.6 million to pilot assistive technology lending libraries in 30 local authorities, enabling up to 3,800 mainstream settings to trial products with pupils before purchasing.

Training on assistive technology is included in the mandatory Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework from September 2025, and the NPQ for special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) includes content on how it can support teaching and learning for pupils with SEND. We are also developing introductory assistive technology training materials with sector partners to support effective use in the classroom.

Individual Support Plans (ISPs) will be tailored to the individual child. They will be developed by settings together with parents and young people, giving every child or young person with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) a clear and consistent record of their needs and the help they receive so that support is joined‑up, timely and centred on what will help them to thrive.

ISPs will set out key information, such as a child or young person’s identified needs, provision, intended outcomes and any reasonable adjustments, as applicable.

Education, health and care (EHC) plans are developed by professionals within a child or young person’s local authority, who tailor the content to individual needs. The department does not set the specific terminology used to describe conditions such as dyscalculia, as these descriptions are determined at the local level.

However, we know that educational psychologists use dyscalculia definitions, as well as wider learning difficulties with mathematics, on EHC plans when assessing a child or young person to identify where they experience specific difficulties with numbers or mathematics. They can then recommend appropriate strategies and interventions to support the child’s learning and development.

The special educational needs and disabilities code of practice sets out that all schools should apply a ‘graduated approach’ when deciding on the provision to be made for a child or young person with special educational needs, including dyscalculia. This means identifying a child’s needs, implementing appropriate support and reviewing it regularly. Schools should involve pupils and their parents in this process, taking their views into consideration.

To improve the teaching of mathematics for all pupils in publicly-funded schools, the department funds the Maths Hubs programme. The programme covers primary, secondary and special schools and uses a mastery-based teaching approach, which aims to secure understanding of key concepts. This includes training for teachers on techniques such as avoiding cognitive overload by breaking the learning down into small manageable steps, using representations to expose mathematical structure and ensuring that learning is sequenced in a coherent manner so it makes sense to pupils.

Education, health and care (EHC) plans are developed by professionals within a child or young person’s local authority, who tailor the content to individual needs. The department does not set the specific terminology used to describe conditions such as dyscalculia, as these descriptions are determined at the local level.

However, we know that educational psychologists use dyscalculia definitions, as well as wider learning difficulties with mathematics, on EHC plans when assessing a child or young person to identify where they experience specific difficulties with numbers or mathematics. They can then recommend appropriate strategies and interventions to support the child’s learning and development.

The special educational needs and disabilities code of practice sets out that all schools should apply a ‘graduated approach’ when deciding on the provision to be made for a child or young person with special educational needs, including dyscalculia. This means identifying a child’s needs, implementing appropriate support and reviewing it regularly. Schools should involve pupils and their parents in this process, taking their views into consideration.

To improve the teaching of mathematics for all pupils in publicly-funded schools, the department funds the Maths Hubs programme. The programme covers primary, secondary and special schools and uses a mastery-based teaching approach, which aims to secure understanding of key concepts. This includes training for teachers on techniques such as avoiding cognitive overload by breaking the learning down into small manageable steps, using representations to expose mathematical structure and ensuring that learning is sequenced in a coherent manner so it makes sense to pupils.

The department has conducted an Equality Impact Assessment on this policy change and has identified the risk that this decision may have a negative impact on some disabled students who might prefer paid-for spelling and grammar software is mitigated by the availability of free versions of spelling and grammar software that provide equivalent functionality for the types of support that are in scope of the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA). The DSA will still fund spelling and grammar software in exceptional circumstances where there is specific need and a robust disability-related justification is provided.

The department conducted a detailed review of the spelling and grammar functionality available in Microsoft Office, computer operating systems, free software products and paid-for software products. This review concluded that the spelling and grammar functionality available in products that students can access for free was similar to that available in paid-for products. While some of the paid-for products had additional features such as plagiarism checkers, these are not in scope for DSA funding, given they are of potential benefit to all students.

Assistive technology training and aftercare support for any non-specialist basic spelling and grammar software agreed in a student’s needs assessment report will continue to be funded through DSA.

The department has conducted an Equality Impact Assessment on this policy change and has identified the risk that this decision may have a negative impact on some disabled students who might prefer paid-for spelling and grammar software is mitigated by the availability of free versions of spelling and grammar software that provide equivalent functionality for the types of support that are in scope of the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA). The DSA will still fund spelling and grammar software in exceptional circumstances where there is specific need and a robust disability-related justification is provided.

The department conducted a detailed review of the spelling and grammar functionality available in Microsoft Office, computer operating systems, free software products and paid-for software products. This review concluded that the spelling and grammar functionality available in products that students can access for free was similar to that available in paid-for products. While some of the paid-for products had additional features such as plagiarism checkers, these are not in scope for DSA funding, given they are of potential benefit to all students.

Assistive technology training and aftercare support for any non-specialist basic spelling and grammar software agreed in a student’s needs assessment report will continue to be funded through DSA.

The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather their feedback and insights on the decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding.

The department does not expect that students will be negatively impacted by the changes, because specific technology packages will no longer be funded where free-to-access versions, with the required functionality, are available to meet students’ disability-related support needs. Specialist spelling and grammar software will continue to be funded where a robust disability-related justification is provided. Assistive technology training and aftercare support for any non-specialist basic spelling and grammar software agreed in a student’s needs assessment report will continue to be funded through the DSA.

The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather their feedback and insights on the decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding.

The department does not expect that students will be negatively impacted by the changes, because specific technology packages will no longer be funded where free-to-access versions, with the required functionality, are available to meet students’ disability-related support needs. Specialist spelling and grammar software will continue to be funded where a robust disability-related justification is provided. Assistive technology training and aftercare support for any non-specialist basic spelling and grammar software agreed in a student’s needs assessment report will continue to be funded through the DSA.

The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather their feedback and insights on the decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding.

The department does not expect that students will be negatively impacted by the changes, because specific technology packages will no longer be funded where free-to-access versions, with the required functionality, are available to meet students’ disability-related support needs. Specialist spelling and grammar software will continue to be funded where a robust disability-related justification is provided. Assistive technology training and aftercare support for any non-specialist basic spelling and grammar software agreed in a student’s needs assessment report will continue to be funded through the DSA.