(UK) "Teachers leaving profession at an alarming rate"; "pupils’ 'increasingly complex needs'"

Jan 16, 2026, Special Needs Jungle: £200 million [$232M] for SEND training announced—but will there be anyone left to train? 

https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/200-million-send-training-announced-anyone-left/  

 

Following on from the £3 billion [$4B] capital funding extravaganza that Matt explained recently, the Department for Education has announced a much smaller sum for SEND training across the education age range:

“We are announcing a new investment of £200m [$232M] for this parliament for settings to upskill staff on supporting SEND pupils. There will be offers available for all EY, Schools and FE settings…

“The training offer will differ based on the setting (EY, Schools, Colleges). However, the training is expected to cover adaptive teaching styles, assistive technologies, working effectively with parents to find ways to make every classroom truly inclusive.

“New training is also being developed specifically for support staff (including Teaching Assistants), in collaboration with the sector, ensuring support staff feel equipped and confident to support all students with SEND”

What’s already on offer? 

There is already a plethora of different training on offer across the sector, but the Department for Education specifically funds an £11.76 million [$13.7M] contract called the Universal SEND Services programme. It’s delivered by Whole School SEND, part of nasen, with help from two training charities, The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and the Autism Education Trust. 

This contract was due to end last March, but was extended for a year, ending this March. I am a member of the advisory group for USS, and I know everyone involved has worked really hard over the past few years pushing the training out across the country. There is more to be done, though, as plenty of schools are still unaware of it. To me, it’s a no-brainer, it’s free, it’s delivered by trusted names, and it’s endorsed by the Department for Education. The primary point there is that it’s F.R.E.E. Parents can also use their online resources–and of course, teaching assistants are included in the main training offer. .

More money = good news. But as Tes reported last week, research shows teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate through failure of the system to provide sufficient support to meet pupils’ “increasingly complex needs.” Without a solid investment in specialist staff, teachers, and support staff, without a more humane curriculum, and a less punishing workload, there won’t be enough teachers, well-trained or not, to keep schools open, let alone put them in new resource bases and units. . . .

Crucially, we know how important teaching assistants and support staff are in our schools and colleges. We will ensure they are included in this new professional development offer, with new programmes available for them as well.

For early years

We need to get this right from the very start of a child’s education. For all early years practitioners, a new national CPD programme will provide free, accessible training focused on inclusive practice, child development, and practical strategies for supporting children with SEND as soon as their education journey begins. . . .

If SEN Support was statutory, you could do the same here–every child with SEND would have an assessment of need, and the provision would be set out clearly. They don’t need to cost very much—if anything additional—in a mainstream setting, but they do ensure needs are clearly stated and provided for. The cost usually rises if needs aren’t met at this earlier stage. 

Of course, now that some genius at the DfE has decided to junk the standardized EHCP template, this will make it much harder to create a digitised, standardised input that would be a vital component of an AI-driven classroom-based support plan. Well done, that person (not). 

A teacher could then enter how a child had responded to this bespoke plan—one that’s not solely based on the specific teacher or SENCO’s own level of expertise (although that would clearly help). The properly-trained AI model could then decide if an outcome had been reliably met. This could then be discussed with the parents/carers and teacher to see if they agreed with the AI assessment, and revised targets set. 

Betcha didn’t think of that in your SEND Development sessions, did you?  It’s okay, you can steal it and pretend you did. I’m cynical, but not precious.

Early Years SENCOs

However, missing in the Universal SEND Services training—because it isn’t commissioned—has been a specific focus on Early Years –and we all know how vital this is. So it seems like this is being rectified, and that’s very good news (hey, look, we can be positive!) An early years training offer as part of the Universal SEND Services programme would be a much-needed addition, if that’s what’s planned—and if not, it should be.

Everyone knows that early identification of emerging needs and knowledge of what to do to support them is vital-and that must start in pre-school settings. Too often, a child enters reception with clear needs and no assessment of what they are—or a plan for how to help them thrive, whether that’s an EHCP or via SEN Support.

What has already been established is the Level 3 Early Years SENCO course, created as part of the SEND Improvement Plan by the previous government. This isn’t the same as general SEND training, but it's clear from looking at DfE contract commissioning that it’s being recommissioned through to 2028, with a possible year’s extension, at a cost of £12,000,000 [$14M] (£15m inc vat). . . .