The department’s reforms are designed to enable all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) including those with dyslexia to succeed.

We are providing £1.6 billion of additional funding to mainstream settings through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund to help settings identify commonly occurring needs and take meaningful steps to improve everyday support. Schools and colleges will also be able to direct funding to develop targeted support for those who need them, such as group interventions, without formal assessment or diagnosis.

Clear statutory duties for schools will also be introduced to identify and meet needs as early as possible and ensure the progress of children and young people is monitored to ensure timely and effective interventions.

To ensure teachers, teaching assistants, support staff and leaders across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with special educational needs, we are investing £200 million of new funding to upskill staff and promote an inclusive culture.

We have also introduced a range of measures to support high-quality teaching of reading and writing, including for pupils with SEND and dyslexia and those at risk of falling behind. This includes the English Hubs programme and the publication of both the reading and writing frameworks.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review considered how the curriculum and assessment system can better support the progress and attainment of all pupils, including those with SEND. In its response, the government committed to developing evidence-led resources to support curriculum adaptation, embedding high-quality adaptive teaching and formative assessment throughout teacher training, and working with Ofqual and exam boards to ensure accessibility is fully considered in the development of qualifications, including GCSEs.

We are carefully reviewing and considering all responses submitted to the SEND Reform consultation and continue to engage widely on our proposals. We will publish a response to the consultation in due course and bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity.

The department’s reforms are designed to enable all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) including those with dyslexia to succeed.

We are providing £1.6 billion of additional funding to mainstream settings through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund to help settings identify commonly occurring needs and take meaningful steps to improve everyday support. Schools and colleges will also be able to direct funding to develop targeted support for those who need them, such as group interventions, without formal assessment or diagnosis.

Clear statutory duties for schools will also be introduced to identify and meet needs as early as possible and ensure the progress of children and young people is monitored to ensure timely and effective interventions.

To ensure teachers, teaching assistants, support staff and leaders across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with special educational needs, we are investing £200 million of new funding to upskill staff and promote an inclusive culture.

We have also introduced a range of measures to support high-quality teaching of reading and writing, including for pupils with SEND and dyslexia and those at risk of falling behind. This includes the English Hubs programme and the publication of both the reading and writing frameworks.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review considered how the curriculum and assessment system can better support the progress and attainment of all pupils, including those with SEND. In its response, the government committed to developing evidence-led resources to support curriculum adaptation, embedding high-quality adaptive teaching and formative assessment throughout teacher training, and working with Ofqual and exam boards to ensure accessibility is fully considered in the development of qualifications, including GCSEs.

We are carefully reviewing and considering all responses submitted to the SEND Reform consultation and continue to engage widely on our proposals. We will publish a response to the consultation in due course and bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity.

The department’s reforms are designed to enable all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) including those with dyslexia to succeed.

We are providing £1.6 billion of additional funding to mainstream settings through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund to help settings identify commonly occurring needs and take meaningful steps to improve everyday support. Schools and colleges will also be able to direct funding to develop targeted support for those who need them, such as group interventions, without formal assessment or diagnosis.

Clear statutory duties for schools will also be introduced to identify and meet needs as early as possible and ensure the progress of children and young people is monitored to ensure timely and effective interventions.

To ensure teachers, teaching assistants, support staff and leaders across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with special educational needs, we are investing £200 million of new funding to upskill staff and promote an inclusive culture.

We have also introduced a range of measures to support high-quality teaching of reading and writing, including for pupils with SEND and dyslexia and those at risk of falling behind. This includes the English Hubs programme and the publication of both the reading and writing frameworks.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review considered how the curriculum and assessment system can better support the progress and attainment of all pupils, including those with SEND. In its response, the government committed to developing evidence-led resources to support curriculum adaptation, embedding high-quality adaptive teaching and formative assessment throughout teacher training, and working with Ofqual and exam boards to ensure accessibility is fully considered in the development of qualifications, including GCSEs.

We are carefully reviewing and considering all responses submitted to the SEND Reform consultation and continue to engage widely on our proposals. We will publish a response to the consultation in due course and bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity.

As I said, we will publish the criteria in due course, but I assure the noble Lord that we worked with young people and sector experts in co-producing the strategy Youth Matters. Those voices from the sector were at the heart of how we created the strategy and they will be part of the conversation going forward.

The noble Lord is absolutely right. Schools provide children who cannot access it through private means the opportunity to benefit from music and instrumental education. Through the national enrichment framework that the Government recently published, we will make sure there are more opportunities in the school day for children to take part in music and learn instruments.

I have heard the noble Lord speak about this many times, and I reassure him that there will not be a one-size-fits-all approach to this. It is vital to recognise that there are young people who have particular needs that will be addressed through specialist schools, for example. However, there is so much evidence that, if we get this right—by putting in the investment, putting in the training that we are funding and working with young people—the benefits of integration and inclusive learning, where they are being done successfully, are enormous. The noble Lord is right that it is important that we get this right. I understand the nervousness, particularly from parents who have spent a lot of time getting their cases heard, so it is up to us to make sure that we go out and give the reassurance that their needs will not be left behind.

The department collects data on 14 primary need types which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-school-census/data-items-2025-to-2026.

This information is published in two publications, accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2025-26 and https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2026.

Information on children and pupils with dyslexia and dyspraxia hyperactive disorder is collected as part of the category of specific learning difficulty as defined by paragraph 6.31 of the current special educational needs code of practice. This category includes a range of conditions, also including dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

The department is committed to supporting local areas to create high-quality places that are suitable to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The department wants more children and young people to access the right support in a local mainstream setting, enabling them to learn alongside their peers and siblings, instead of travelling a long way to a special school.

For this reason, we are investing at least £3.7 billion in high needs capital funding between 2025-2026 and 2029-2030, to support local authorities to provide places for children and young people with SEND, or who require alternative provision across early years settings, schools, and colleges.

The government maintains the higher education (HE) system under review to ensure it delivers good outcomes for students and value for money for the taxpayer.

The Office for Students identified some providers recruiting students with insufficient English language proficiency to undertake the rigorous studies that an HE course demands. Students must not be mis-sold courses they are not equipped to undertake.

As announced on 25 June, we will consult in the autumn to canvass views on whether and how the government might introduce a minimum English language requirement for accessing student finance. We will be testing how the government should balance robust standards with supporting access and participation for students from different backgrounds and protected characteristics. We are keen to hear views from a wide range of groups and people, and we will carefully consider the equalities impact before making any changes.

The Experts at Hand offer is primarily focused on providing mainstream settings with expert advice and guidance from education and healthcare experts to help them identify and meet a range of special educational needs including neurodiverse conditions. This includes strengthening early identification and supporting more effective and inclusive practice.

Experts at Hand works alongside existing statutory provision and does not replace established school led approaches or specialist one-to-one services, including speech and language therapy and occupational therapy.

Experts at Hand is in addition to enhanced teacher and support staff training to ensure all schools can provide a high-quality universal offer, and new National Inclusion Standards supporting teachers to use evidence-based strategies to identify and respond to pupils' needs.

Access to support should not be dependent on a child or young person having a diagnosis, and a diagnosis alone does not help a teacher know what strategies to use to support that child in the classroom.

The department is clear that teachers and educators should use plain English and commonly understood terms when communicating support for children and young people with special educational needs.

As part of our special educational needs and disabilities reforms, we will place a duty on settings to produce an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for any child or young person receiving targeted, targeted plus or specialist support. ISPs will be developed by settings together with parents and young people, giving every child or young person receiving targeted or specialist support a clear and consistent record of their needs and the help they receive.

My Lords, the Government recognise the serious risks posed by substances marketed online that are unsafe for human consumption. Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must take proactive steps to prevent and remove illegal content, including the promotion or sale of unlawful substances, and to tackle fraud. Where products fall within the definition of medicines, robust controls apply to their sale, supply and advertising, and unauthorised products are subject to enforcement action.

The Online Safety Act has duties in respect of children. Platforms that provide services to children must ensure that harmful content is not provided. Ofcom’s children’s harms guidance makes it clear that sponsored or influencer-promoted content can be in scope where it actively encourages children to consume harmful substances. Ofcom has considerable powers to monitor compliance with the Act and Parliament has given it the ability to fine and take enforcement action, which I think everyone in this Chamber supports.

Section 5(5B) of the Education Act 2005 places a clear duty on Ofsted to report on how well schools meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). During all inspections, inspectors give particular attention to the experiences and outcomes of pupils who face barriers to learning, including those with SEND. Our new inspection framework has ‘inclusion’ as a specific graded area for the first time, ensuring all children are supported to achieve and thrive regardless of need or background. They evaluate how leaders support these pupils, the rationale for their approach, and the evidence underpinning it. This includes discussions with leaders, reviewing data, speaking with pupils, sampling cases and considering parents’ views. Inspection reports always include an evaluation of the experiences and achievement of pupils with SEND. Further detail is set out in Ofsted’s attached toolkit.

Under our proposed reforms, education, health and care (EHC) plans will continue, guaranteeing statutory entitlements to education and health provision, and will be reviewed regularly. Educational provision in reformed EHC plans will be underpinned by evidence-based, nationally consistent specialist provision packages. Any child with an EHC plan as of the legislation’s commencement date will retain their EHC plan and associated provision until they finish their current phase of education, or choose to move to the new system. Children with an EHC plan in the early years will retain their EHC plan and associated provision until they finish the primary phase, when it will be reviewed.

The Children’s Commissioner will have a role in providing independent oversight, monitoring and scrutiny of the implementation of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform. Other reforms will improve and strengthen processes for resolving individual complaints relating to SEND provision, with the tribunal remaining as the legal backstop for the most fundamental EHC plan decisions.

Individual Support Plans (ISPs) will be tailored to the individual child. They will be developed by settings together with parents and young people, giving every child or young person with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) a clear and consistent record of their needs and the help they receive so that support is joined‑up, timely and centred on what will help them to thrive.

ISPs will set out key information, such as a child or young person’s identified needs, provision, intended outcomes and any reasonable adjustments, as applicable.

Individual Support Plans (ISPs) will provide a record of need and provision for all children or young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), including those with an education, health and care plan. ISPs will enable settings to work alongside parents, providing a single, consistent record of a child’s needs, support or the reasonable adjustments which are in place and what further changes or adaptations may be needed.

Under the proposals, where there are concerns about provision, parents and young people would be able to raise these directly with the setting, including through the improved schools complaints process where necessary. We are proposing to strengthen this complaints process by including an independent SEND expert on panels to consider complaints, ensuring parents can have confidence.

We will take this forward alongside wider work set out in the Schools White Paper to improve the whole school complaints system, including exploring digital solutions and setting out clearer handling processes.

The department is committed to supporting the effective use of assistive technology to help children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) achieve and thrive in mainstream education. We recognise that assistive technology can play a key role in removing barriers to learning, and many education settings are already using it for this purpose, as well as to build confidence, independence and promote greater inclusion.

We are supporting settings to make informed decisions about assistive technology and increase confidence. For example, we have invested over £1.6 million to pilot assistive technology lending libraries in 30 local authorities, enabling up to 3,800 mainstream settings to trial products with pupils before purchasing.

Training on assistive technology is included in the mandatory Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework from September 2025, and the NPQ for special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) includes content on how it can support teaching and learning for pupils with SEND. We are also developing introductory assistive technology training materials with sector partners to support effective use in the classroom.