(UK) SPED CRISIS: 'Existential threats we are facing'; 'national emergency on our hands'
- The end of childhood
- 19 hours ago
- 2 min read
Oct 27, 2025, Lancaster University: SEND support system crisis worsens – latest analysis shows
The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, already known to be in deep trouble, now faces ‘a worsening crisis’ which, say experts, puts the UK on the brink of a national emergency.
A new Child of the North (CotN) report update highlights that schools still lack skills, resources and access to support services, face delays in receiving statutory individual education, health and care plans (EHCP), and experience severe school SEND absences.
‘Addressing the SEND crisis update: Implementing what works in a worsening crisis’, produced by the N8 Research Partnership, which includes Lancaster University, and Health Equity North in partnership with Baroness Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives, provides an updated and shocking picture from the last 12 months.
“The stakes are high,” says the latest analysis. “Without action the SEND crisis will deepen, the UK’s economy will suffer, the NHS will remain under great pressure and the link between a child’s background and life chances will remain.” . . .
It also highlights:
A ‘widening gap’ since 2023/24 in severe absence (missing more than 50% of school) between children with an EHCP and children without Special Educational Needs (SEN).
Delays in providing EHCPs with only 46.6 % being issued within the recommended 20 weeks
Substantial regional variations mean children are disproportionally disadvantaged because of their postcode and are not receiving the support they need.
Families are battling through complex systems to get help, with a recent survey finding 92 % reported navigating the system detrimental to their mental health.
However, the update flags new evidence which confirms that teacher-based assessments could be used to shift SEN support from a diagnosis-led to a needs-led system.
“Novel analyses show that school readiness measures can be used to identify need early and address the structural inequalities blighting the UK,” says the update.
Earlier CotN reports, authored by academics Dr Amy Atkinson and Professor Uta Papen, from Lancaster University, identified a SEND system crisis and offered possible solutions. The research gained government attention, but a Schools White Paper supporting SEND reform is still awaited. . . .
Professor Mark Mon-Williams, the report series editor from the University of Leeds, said:
“The UK needs to wake up to the existential threats we are facing as a country. These reports are helping to highlight that we have a national emergency on our hands.
“We need to cut through the noise and shift the public and political discourse to the topic of how we build a country that works for all children and young people.”
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