(England) 250K students may lose SPED plans under govt restrictions; $4.4B deficit

May 15, 2025, i Paper: 250,000 SEND pupils could lose their legal guarantees of extra support

A quarter of a million pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in mainstream schools could lose their legal guarantees of extra support under a Government shake-up.

A key Department for Education (DfE) advisor is reported to have suggested that the department is considering restricting education, health and care plans (EHCPs) to children in special schools.

Hannah Rose, from parents’ organisation SEND Reform England, said: “The suggestion that EHCPs could be narrowed to only apply to special school placements is not only deeply alarming but dangerously out of touch with the lived experiences of families.

“For many disabled children, an EHCP is the only way to access the support they need to survive – not to thrive to survive in an education system that already excludes them at every turn.

The Government wants to change the system because of an escalating SEND education crisis, caused partly by the increased number and cost of EHCPs.

At the moment, the plans, which can be hugely expensive, might guarantee extra help within a mainstream school, such as a dedicated teaching assistant. An EHCP could also require a local authority to pay for a pupil to be educated at a private special school.

In March, The i Paper revealed that the Government was considering tightening EHCP rules, which could result in more children with SEND being educated in mainstream schools.

The number of EHCPs has surged in recent years, more than doubling from 285,722 pupils having a plan in 2018 to 576,474 EHCPs in January 2024.

This increase is the main reason local authorities have accumulated a combined £3.3bn [$4.4B] deficit in their “high needs” education budgets, according to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) in December.

Last month, Mark Mon-Williams, professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Leeds, who is involved in the Government’s new expert advisory group on inclusion, refused to rule out scrapping EHCPs altogether in an interview with The i Paper.

When asked what role EHCPs will play in Labour’s SEND reform, he said that conversations are happening in “real time” with members of the community about the “best way forward.”

“That may mean keeping the existing system. It may mean changing the existing system. It may mean using other systems,” he said.

But campaigners fear reform could bring large-scale cuts to support for disabled children, especially after Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warned parents in March that they would need to “think very differently” about what the system will look like.

Anna Bird, chair of the Disabled Children’s Partnership, a coalition of 120 charities, said: “The idea of scrapping Education, Health and Care Plans [in mainstream schools] will terrify families.

“The reality parents and children face now is that an EHCP is the only way they can get an education. Most requests for EHCPs come from schools who rely on them to support children’s health and social care needs. Any conversation about replacing these plans should focus on how children’s rights to an education will be strengthened, without the red tape and without the fight.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “The evidence is clear that this government inherited a SEND system left on its knees – with too many children not having their needs met and parents forced to fight for support.

“This government is actively working with parents and experts on the solutions, including more early intervention to prevent needs from escalating and £740 million [$989M] to encourage councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools.

“Any changes we make will improve support for children and parents, stop parents from having to fight for support, and protect provision currently in place. As part of our Plan for Change, we will restore the confidence of families up and down the country and deliver the improvement they are crying out for so every child can achieve and thrive.”