Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support neurodivergent children transitioning from primary to secondary school.

The department has recently consulted on proposed reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, including proposals to support improve transitions between settings. We are carefully reviewing and considering all responses and will set out our response in due course.

We have set out proposals for children and young people with SEND to have Individual Support Plans (ISP) that outline their needs and support. Our ambition is that ISPs will be interactive, easy to use and available in a digital format, supporting consistency across the system and smoother transitions for children moving between settings.

Subject to the outcome of consultation, the National Inclusion Standards will set out, for the first time, what ordinarily available provision should be in every setting across the 0 to 25 system. This will serve to improve the consistency of practice across settings and support transitions between setting types.

The National Inclusion Standards will support the effective use of inclusion funding and the development of inclusion strategies, providing evidence-based tools, strategies and approaches for educators to draw on to identify and support children and young people with SEND including neurodivergent children.