Commenting on the SEND announcement from today’s King’s Speech, Carole Willis, Chief Executive of NFER, said:
“After years of mounting pressure on the SEND system, it is positive to see plans, included in the Education for All Bill designed to strengthen support for children and young people with SEND, including investment in inclusion bases in mainstream schools.
“Our research suggests that, if implemented well, inclusion bases could help mainstream schools strengthen specialist expertise, improve access to support, and promote closer multi-agency working. However, our evidence on impact of their predecessors, Resourced Provision and SEN Units, is mixed highlighting that successful implementation will be key.
“Our forthcoming research set to be published next week also shows that pupils with SEND are unevenly distributed across schools, with some mainstream schools supporting far higher proportions of pupils with additional needs than others – creating significant pressures on staffing, budgets, and school capacity.
“Successful implementation will depend not only on funding, but on ensuring schools have access to the workforce capacity, training and specialist expertise needed to deliver inclusive practice effectively. As reforms develop, it will be important that accountability, admissions, and resourcing arrangements support all schools to play their part in inclusive education.”