This week the Times and the BBC have leaked information about the upcoming Schools White Paper, which looks to radically change how the system functions for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families. The full plans might be revealed as early as Monday on MPs’ return to Parliament.

The leaked plans are likely to have devastating consequences for many disabled young people and their families, all in the name of cost-cutting. However, the government continues to stand by the idea that the plans will make the SEND system ‘needs-led’ and ‘truly inclusive’.

What do the leaked plans say?

According to the leaks, the Schools White Paper will make fewer disabled children eligible for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), instead placing more pressure on schools to support them. Those who do have an existing EHCP will have to have their needs reassessed between each different phase of their education (for example, primary to secondary and at 16).

Considering that in 2025, only 46.4% of new EHCPs were issued within the statutory 20 weeks, it feels counterintuitive to force people back into the system unnecessarily at transition stages rather than when needs actually change, but the government insists this will cut demand and make sure only those who need a plan have one — ignoring how hard it is to get one in place as it is.

The plans also say that schools will have to ‘cover the entire cost of meeting pupils’ needs without extra government subsidies’, which severely risks even more children’s needs being left behind or denied legitimacy in schools that are already severely underfunded and overstretched.

Meanwhile, independent specialist provisions will have a cap on the amount of funding they can claim for each pupil, with many believing this could lead to their collapse and additional pressure on state-funded specialist schools that are already at their limit.

A tiered disability system is a dangerous idea

A key element of the leaked plans details that children’s disabilities will be placed into different tiers, with only the highest three becoming eligible for EHCPs; the lower levels will be given individual support plans in schools instead.

There is currently no outline for what legal rights a young person will have if they have an individual support plan instead of an EHCP. At present, many young people have a version of this in school without access to an EHCP with little to no legal standing.

Pupils with ‘less complex and serious needs’ including autism and ADHD will become ineligible, with a source saying that a panel of experts will be deciding what level of need justifies higher tiers of support. They call disabilities such as ADHD and autism ‘predictable’.

The idea that children and young people’s needs can be easily slotted into different categories is extremely harmful. Needs are unique and differ for every single disabled person, even when they have the same disability.

To argue that neurodivergent children’s needs are ‘predictable’ sets a very dangerous precedent that will ignore the challenges that these young people and their families experience in a system that is already broken.

Disability boxes

The concept of ‘Targeted, Targeted Plus and Specialist’ categories will draw lines in the sand for something that cannot be placed into neat little boxes. Disability is not something that can be categorised by a panel, and often cannot be put entirely into writing by professionals. This will leave many without the support they absolutely need.

The current system already leaves behind thousands of disabled young people, with their families having to fight for diagnosis, support, and plans they are legally entitled to. The Schools White Paper will come at a point in time where getting a diagnosis in a timely manner is already next to impossible, with some areas even halting referrals.

NICE guidelines say that autism assessments should take place within thirteen weeks. Undiagnosed young people are already at a significant disadvantage.

The schools system is broken, but this is not the way forward

The current system is broken: there is absolutely no denying it. But instead of focusing on getting disabled children the education they have a right to, the government is only attempting to cut costs. Its continual defence that this is a more inclusive system is a fallacy designed to cover up the complete disregard these plans have for disabled children and their families.

There are some elements of the leaked plans that are, in theory, more positive: promising more training for teachers, and funding for educational psychologists and speech and language therapists. But this cannot be seen as enough in isolation when young people have individual needs that are likely to be left behind, and when overstretched schools with no capacity already are being placed under new pressures.

The government has acknowledged that the proposals are ‘controversial’ amongst backbenchers, and rightly so. The system has a human rights responsibility to disabled children’s education which is being pushed aside in favour of continual cuts that could be made elsewhere – it must be pushed back on.

Disabled children are not your cost-saving plan, nor your scapegoat for why the economy is failing. They deserve our focus, and access to exactly what they need in order to get the education they must have access to.

Featured image via the Canary

By Charli Clement

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