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Written question asked by Gregory Stafford (Conservative) on Monday, 6 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 8 July 2026. It was answered by Georgia Gould (Labour) on Tuesday, 28 July 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Special Educational Needs: Armed Forces

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is the latest assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of access to special educational needs or disabilities provision on a) Armed Forces family satisfaction and b) personnel retention.

Answer

We recognise that Armed Forces life may present particular challenges for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families, particularly because of the need to move regularly. As part of our consultation on reforms of the SEND system, I attended a roundtable hosted by the Armed Forces Community All-Party Parliamentary Group, to hear first-hand from armed forces families their powerful testimony about these challenges.

Our proposed SEND reforms aim to end the postcode lottery and improve quality of support for Service children with SEND, for example, through new National Inclusion Standards, a nationally consistent set of Specialist Provision Packages and digital Individual Support and education, health and care plans that support transitions between settings. Updating the SEND Code of Practice will be essential to ensure children’s needs are met early and flexibly.

We are carefully reviewing and taking into account all responses submitted to the consultation, alongside feedback from over 200 engagement events we held over 12 weeks. We will set out our response in due course.

Local authorities are required, in line with the Armed Forces Covenant 'due regard' duty, to consider the needs of Service personnel, veterans and their families in planning and delivering aspects of education provision. Some local authorities have proactively decided to deliver this through appointing a lead officer for children from Armed Forces families.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
16334
Session
2026-27
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Armed forces Special educational needs
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk