Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will assess the potential merits of increasing places available on the educational psychology funded training (EPFT) scheme.

Educational psychologists play a key role in supporting children and young people, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities. The department is committed to growing the workforce of educational psychologists so that children and young people can access the support they need sooner.

As set out in the Schools White Paper, the government is investing £26 million to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year from 2026/27, with further investment to train more over the following three years, subject to future spending reviews. This is in addition to the £31 million already invested since 2023.

The department is also investing around £1.8 billion for local area partnerships, including local authorities and integrated care boards, to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer, which will provide access to support from key services, such as educational psychologists and trainees.