Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve SEND training within initial teacher training programmes and ongoing professional development.

​​The initial teacher training (ITT) core content framework and early career framework (ECF), for trainee and early career teachers (ECTs) respectively, cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career. They set out the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching and, from September 2025, will be superseded by the combined initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF), which sets out a minimum entitlement to training and must be used by providers of ITT and those delivering provider-led early career training to create their curricula. From September 2025, all ECTs will be entitled to a two-year induction that is underpinned by the ITTECF, known as the early career teacher entitlement (ECTE).

​High quality teaching is the most important in-school factor for improving outcomes for all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or from disadvantaged backgrounds, 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.

The department’s review of content for the ITTECF paid particular attention to the needs of trainees and ECTs when supporting pupils with SEND. There is now significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND, some of which has been adapted from the new national professional qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators to be relevant for trainees and ECTs.

The department has updated the framework to improve inclusivity for SEND throughout the framework including, for example, developing an understanding of different pupil needs, and learning how to provide opportunities for success for all pupils. From September 2025, the department has also enhanced the requirement on providers of ECT training to develop SEND training materials. The department tested this approach with SEND educational experts, with consensus being that the approach of ‘quality-first teaching’ would be the best way to improve outcomes for all children, particularly those with SEND.

The department recognises that continuous improvement is essential and has recently committed to a full review of the ECTE in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for ECTs. This review will focus on the support we provide new teachers in teaching pupils with SEND.