Ofsted is currently reviewing its complaints arrangements for schools, with a view to strengthening independent oversight. The department is engaging with Ofsted on this matter. Further details of the plans will be made available in due course.

As set out in the department’s consultation, ‘SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First’, the department proposed a duty on settings to produce an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for every child or young person receiving targeted, targeted plus or specialist support. Under this proposal, the ISP would provide a clear and consistent record of a child or young person’s needs and the help they receive, so that support is joined‑up, timely and centred on what will help them thrive. The responses to the consultation are carefully being reviewed and we will respond in due course.

The department recognises the importance of ensuring that parents and carers have effective routes to raise concerns where support is not being delivered as expected. The ISP will be developed by settings together with parents and young people, giving every child or young person with special educational needs a clear and consistent record of their needs and the help they receive.

The department proposed strengthening the school complaints system with the inclusion of an appropriate, independent SEND specialist on a complaints panel if the complaint cannot be resolved by the school’s senior management team or head teacher. We also proposed strengthening the utilisation of Disagreement Resolution Services by improving and updating guidance for schools. In addition, we set out plans to improve complaints systems more generally in the Schools White Paper, by exploring digital solutions, updating guidance and setting out clearer handling processes.

​​The department will support local authorities, schools, families and the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) tribunal to manage the move to our new SEND system. We heard clearly from parents, educators and practitioners the importance of a phased approach to a new system, starting with investment in early intervention. We will share clear guidance ahead of the commencement of new legislation and phase transition, moving children and young people to the new system over a period of seven years and only when they reach the end of their education phase, such as the end of year 6 or year 11.

Under our proposals, a triple lock of transitional protections will mean every child with a special school place in September 2029 will be able to stay in a special school until they finish education. Further proposals will mean children with an education, health and care (EHC) plan will not transition to the new system until 2030, and those who transition out of their EHC plan will have an Individual Support Plan in place ahead of their plan ceasing.

We are investing £200 million of transformation funding to build capacity, strengthen strategic planning and data capability, and implement local authorities’ Local SEND Reform Plans. Through the inclusive mainstream fund, we are also investing £500 million per financial year over the next three years to improve readiness ahead of transitioning to our improved SEND system from 2029.

This government is committed to improving mental health support for children and young people and the department engages regularly with education sector bodies and school leaders. We are expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school and are accelerating rollout to achieve full national coverage by 2029.

The department also provides guidance and resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing, developed by working with schools to ensure their needs are met. Resources include a hub for mental health leads, the Targeted Support guidance and Hub and a non-statutory guidance to support schools to take a holistic, preventative approach to mental health and wellbeing, available at:

1. https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources-senior-mental-health/
2. https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/targeted-support/
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing

Additionally, we are developing a new mental health strategy for England, to be published later this year. This involved a call for evidence on prevention and support, including from education and training settings, on how to maximise existing policies, such as MHSTs and community-based mental health services.

This government is committed to improving mental health support for children and young people and the department engages regularly with education sector bodies and school leaders. We are expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school and are accelerating rollout to achieve full national coverage by 2029.

The department also provides guidance and resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing, developed by working with schools to ensure their needs are met. Resources include a hub for mental health leads, the Targeted Support guidance and Hub and a non-statutory guidance to support schools to take a holistic, preventative approach to mental health and wellbeing, available at:

1. https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources-senior-mental-health/
2. https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/targeted-support/
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing

Additionally, we are developing a new mental health strategy for England, to be published later this year. This involved a call for evidence on prevention and support, including from education and training settings, on how to maximise existing policies, such as MHSTs and community-based mental health services.

The world in which young people are growing up is changing more rapidly than ever, and we know that human skills will become even more valuable when preparing them to succeed in life and work.

Our refreshed curriculum will deliver high standards for all, making sure that pupils obtain the breadth and depth of knowledge and skills they need to thrive in the future.

They will learn to master the essential technological and digital skills needed for the workplace through a curriculum rich in digital and media literacy.

The government will nurture the next generation of leaders by creating fluent and confident speakers through a greater emphasis on oracy across curriculum subjects.

We will also widen opportunity for all young people and create clear pathways into further study, training and high-quality careers where they live.

Headteachers are responsible for recruitment and deployment in their schools, as they are best placed to understand the specific needs of their pupils and make staffing decisions accordingly.

In Shropshire, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) school support staff increased slightly from 2,537 in 2024/25 to 2,553 in 2025/26. This includes an increase in FTE teaching assistant numbers from 1,470 in 2024/25 to 1,517 in 2025/26. There has also been a slight decrease in FTE technicians from 48 in 2024/25 to 45 in 2025/26.

The government is committed to ensuring that school support staff are recognised and rewarded for the crucial work they do. That is why we are establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body to negotiate new statutory minimum levels for pay and conditions and advise on training and career progression for school support staff in England.

We are investing in schools to deliver the changes to support mainstream inclusion. From 2026 to 2027 we will provide £1.6 billion for the Inclusive Mainstream Fund for schools, colleges and early years settings to deliver an improved inclusion offer, as well as £1.8 billion for Experts at Hand.

The department is also investing £200 million in a new special educational needs and disabilities training offer to upskill school, college and nursery staff, including teaching assistants.

The Experts at Hand offer is funded by a £1.8 billion grant, over the three years of the spending review period. It is for local authorities, working in partnership with local system partners, to provide advice and direct support to mainstream schools, colleges and early years settings. This funding is for investment in services that individual settings cannot commission alone, such as specialist health and education support, to improve the quality of inclusive education for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND), in line with the 2026 Schools White Paper and SEND Reform consultation document.

Over the same time period, the £1.6 billion Inclusive Mainstream Fund will be provided for mainstream schools, colleges and early years settings. It will support schools to transition towards a reformed education system that is inclusive by design, ensuring every child and young person receives high-quality, adaptive teaching and early help when they need it.

We have fulfilled a commitment in ‘SEND Reform, Putting Children and Young People First’ to consult on ways to allow local authorities to pass more of their high needs funding directly to local mainstream schools. The proposals are intended to support earlier intervention and enable a more proactive approach to meeting needs, reducing reliance on funding being tied to statutory processes. More information is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/upfront-funding-for-mainstream-schools-creating-a/supporting_documents/upfront-funding-for-mainstream-schools-creating-a-local-send-inclusion-formulapdf.

Over time, there will be further rebalancing of funding from the high needs budget into schools’ budgets, in line with new accountability arrangements. This will allow them to deliver more flexible, direct and timely support and further incentivise early intervention and inclusive practice.

The department recognises the importance of understanding the diversity of the school workforce, including the experiences of neurodivergent staff. The School Workforce Census (SWC) already collects information on disability, which may include some neurodivergent conditions where individuals choose to declare them. However, the disability data collected does not enable the department to identify or extract information specifically on neurodivergent staff.

The department keeps the content of the SWC under regular review to ensure it meets user needs while minimising administrative burdens on schools. The department has not made a specific assessment of the merits of introducing a separate data field for neurodivergence. Any proposal to do so would require careful consideration of data quality, staff disclosure rates and the impact on schools and employers.

The department will continue to consider opportunities to improve its understanding of workforce diversity.

Teacher numbers in the Shropshire local authority increased slightly year on year. The department’s latest data reported that there were 2,137 teachers in 2025/26 compared to 2,131 in 2024/25.

Nationally, we have achieved over 71% of our 6,500 additional teachers target. There are 4,654 more teachers in 2025/26 compared with 2024/25, including 3,008 more teachers in secondary and special schools and 1,646 more teachers in further education.

The latest School Workforce Census also reported the lowest leaver rate (8.5%) outside the pandemic and a record number of teachers (17,740) returning to the classroom.

By September 2027, school teachers will have seen an increase in their pay of 17% since this government took power, and we are taking action to tackle poor pupil behaviour, reduce high workload and improve wellbeing to encourage even more teachers to stay in the profession.

The department is working closely with employers, providers, awarding organisations and higher education institutions to design high-quality technical and vocational qualifications that reflect workforce needs. These new qualifications will be based on occupational standards, developed by Skills England and co-created by employers, helping to define the content that students need to become competent in their chosen sector.

New V Levels and Foundation Certificates will be aligned with these occupational standards creating clear progression pathways into further study or work-based training, including apprenticeships.

T Levels and Occupational Certificates will be directly aligned to occupational standards and will support greater specialisation. They will enable students to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for skilled employment in their chosen sector, and in the case of T Levels, progression to higher education.

Employers and sector experts are helping to shape nationally set qualification content through ongoing engagement as part of our subject stakeholder groups and responding to our content consultations.

The department is committed to ensuring that artificial intelligence (AI) is not used to undermine high academic standards in higher education (HE). That is why, as set out in the Post-16 education and skills white paper, the department is supporting the Office for Students to assess the impact of AI. Including how students are using it in assessments, to ensure the integrity of higher education assessments and qualifications is not compromised.

Universities are independent and autonomous bodies responsible for decisions such as admissions, diversity of provision, course content, teaching and assessment. As such, they are responsible for designing and implementing their own policies and approaches to the use of AI.

In addition, the Office for Students, under Condition B4 of its regulatory framework, requires qualifications to remain credible reflections of students' knowledge and skills and can take regulatory action where providers fail to meet those requirements.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Effective early identification and support is critical to improving outcomes for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with autism.

We have proposed the introduction of National Inclusion Standards, which will support education settings to identify and respond to needs earlier and more consistently, drawing on a broad range of evidence and professional expertise, so that all children and young people can receive the support they need to achieve and thrive.

The National Inclusion Standards will be underpinned by a £200 million training package to ensure that all teachers, educators, teaching assistants, support staff and leaders across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with SEND, and a new investment of £3.7 billion to drive more inclusive school estates and create additional specialist places.

We will continue to engage closely with young people, parents and professionals as we develop our reforms and how they will work in practice. The department also engages with the devolved governments at ministerial and official level on a range of areas covering education, skills and family policies and will continue to do so.

Careers adviser qualifications and continuing professional development (CPD) include content on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This helps advisers understand dyslexia and other forms of neurodiversity, identify barriers to learning and progression, work effectively with special educational needs coordinators and other professionals, and provide tailored careers guidance.

To further strengthen support for young people with SEND, the department has commissioned Transform Your Training to develop a series of CPD modules for careers advisers, including a module focused specifically on supporting young people with SEND.

Hartford Infant and Preschool, Hartford Junior School and Upwood Primary Academy are currently on the free breakfast clubs programme in the Huntingdon constituency. The full list of schools on the programme is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breakfast-clubs-early-adopters-schools-in-the-scheme.

The government is committed to delivering a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England. Following the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, all state-funded schools with primary-age pupils will be required to offer a club once the statutory duty comes into force.

New groups of schools will be onboarded in stages throughout 2027/28 to ensure appropriate support is in place. The department recognises the strong interest from schools and families in the free breakfast clubs programme and further details will be confirmed in due course.

Hartford Infant and Preschool, Hartford Junior School and Upwood Primary Academy are currently on the free breakfast clubs programme in the Huntingdon constituency. The full list of schools on the programme is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breakfast-clubs-early-adopters-schools-in-the-scheme.

The government is committed to delivering a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England. Following the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, all state-funded schools with primary-age pupils will be required to offer a club once the statutory duty comes into force.

New groups of schools will be onboarded in stages throughout 2027/28 to ensure appropriate support is in place. The department recognises the strong interest from schools and families in the free breakfast clubs programme and further details will be confirmed in due course.

As part of the government’s work to reduce child poverty and ease cost pressures on families, the department has put in place a major package to support families with back-to-school costs.

Over 3 million children from families receiving Universal Credit will now benefit from free school meals, marking a major contribution to the government’s work to lift over a half a million children out of poverty, the biggest reduction in a single Parliament since records began.

This is alongside 1400 more free breakfast clubs opening across the country, saving families up to £654 per child per year on childcare costs, and new limits on expensive branded school uniforms, which could save some families up to £50 per child on the back-to-school shop.

Families benefiting from free school meals, free breakfast clubs and cheaper uniforms could save up to £1,200 a year, while eligible working parents using government-funded childcare could save up to £8,000 a year.

During the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, the government committed to review The Children (Performance and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014 and will do so in the future. These regulations currently cover public performances and paid sporting and modelling. The review will include careful consideration of which activities should fall in scope and how best to ensure that children can continue to access positive opportunities, while also safeguarding their safety, wellbeing and best interests.