Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools have access to speech and language specialists.

The government is committed to ensuring that every child has the best start in life. This includes all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including speech, language and communications needs such as Developmental Language Disorder.

We know that continuing to build the pipeline of speech and language therapists (SaLT) is essential. The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with SEND.

In addition to the undergraduate degree route, SaLTs can now also train via a degree apprenticeship. This route is entering its fourth year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a SaLT.

In partnership with NHS England, the department has extended the Early Language and Support for Every Child programme, trialling new ways of working to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs in early years settings and primary schools.