Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to improve a) universal, b) targeted and c) specialist speech, language and communication support.

Speech and Language Therapists (SaLTs) play a critical role in early intervention for children and young people. By breaking down communication barriers, they unlock learning, inclusion, and opportunity for every child.

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 special educational needs and disabilities. This includes extending 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.

We are also continuing to grow the pipeline. In addition to the undergraduate degree route, speech and language therapists can also train via a degree apprenticeship. This route is now in its fourth year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist.

Further plans to bolster this critical workforce will be set out in the forthcoming Schools White Paper.