Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to train staff in the provision of SEND education.

The within school factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcome is high-quality teaching. Supporting expert teachers is therefore critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child.

All teachers are teachers of special education needs and disabilities (SEND), and the department is committed to ensuring that all pupils receive excellent support from their teachers.

The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND.

Our recruitment and retention reforms will support all teachers. Consideration of SEND underpins both the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and early career framework (ECF), and they have been designed around how to support all pupils to succeed.

We recently reviewed the mandatory ITT core content framework alongside the ECF and the new framework includes significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting all pupils with SEND.

Headteachers use their professional judgement to identify any further training, including specific specialisms, for individual staff that is relevant to them, the school, and its pupils.

All mainstream schools must have a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) who must be a qualified teacher, or the head teacher, working at the school. On 1 September 2024, the department introduced a new mandatory leadership level National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for SENCOs. The NPQ will play a key role in improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND by ensuring SENCOs consistently receive high-quality, evidence-based training.

To further support the needs of pupils and students with SEND, the department has funded the Universal Services programme, backed by almost £12 million. It brings together SEND-specific continuing professional development and support for schools and the further education workforce so that the needs of children and young people with SEND are met earlier and more effectively.