2025 has been a busy year for SEND.
It was the year when the crisis in the system was fully laid bare, with report after report and study after study pressing home the stark realities of a system that is in crisis and failing some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
The writing was on the wall, already, in early January. The year started with new figures showing that the number of pupils with an identified SEND had continued to rise and now stood at 1.7 million.
At the same time the number of EHCPs also rose to record numbers, to 638,000 – an increase of nearly 11% on the previous year.
The figures provided the context to a discussion that would dominate the rest of the year.
Financial crisis
Funding dominated coverage and debate around SEND throughout 2025, with multiple warnings of a financial black holes, and the very real possibility of local authorities going bankrupt while trying to meet the increased demand for SEND provision and services.
The Public Accounts Committee was among the first to signal the alarm, with a report stating that the SEND system had reached “crisis point” and was “unaffordable” as it currently stood – a theme that formed a continuous thread running through SEND discussions for much of the rest of the year.
London Councils predicted that at least 16 of the capital’s 33 boroughs were at risk of bankruptcy due to a lack of funds and rising pressures of SEND. The cross-party group warned that deficits in London for SEND provision would total at least £500 million by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the County Councils Network accused the government of “ducking reforms” resulting in “unimaginable deficits” of £18 billion by the end of the current parliament. Furthermore, its report found, educational outcomes for pupils had not improved, despite the £30 billion that councils had invested on SEND services in the previous decade.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies also threw in its evidence into the debate, with a report stating the system of support for SEND provision was “broken”. It urged the government to consider any reforms carefully, but that doing nothing was not an option.
The need for widespread reform
As pupils returned to school following the summer break, and amid continuing concern over finances, the education select committee, published the findings of its inquiry into SEND, with a call for a “cultural shift” and “root and branch transformation of the way mainstream education caters to children and young people with SEND”.
This could be achieved, it said, by embedding inclusivity in all settings and early identification and interventions to support SEND pupils. The report was to come ahead of the government’s school’s white paper on SEND reform but, in October, Ministers announced that this was being delayed until early 2026 to ensure that future policies were workable and to consider further evidence.
In order to further advance discussions, and apparently to take into account the views of parents, students and other stakeholders, Ministers launched the “biggest national conversation on SEND for a generation” in early December with a series of live roadshows and online events. The timing of this exercise led to raised eyebrows about the timing, with some parents and stakeholders describing it as “futile”.
schools committed to inclusive practice [should be] supported rather than penalised
More money, more places needed
The uneven distribution of SEND pupils in schools was highlighted by National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) in a report published it November, which called for more consistency and equity.
This included “ensuring that schools committed to inclusive practice are supported rather than penalised and that the system does not place disproportionate pressure on those serving higher numbers of pupils with SEND.”
It followed an admission by headteachers that many children with SEND were being turned away from schools, or discouraged from applying, if they had EHCP plans because schools did not have the funding to support them.
Speaking ahead of its Easter conference, Pepe Di’Lasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, accused some colleagues of “non-inclusive behaviour” and called for more ethical, inclusive practices.
The government announced a £3 billion drive to create around 50,000 new specialist places in mainstream schools, to to allow children to remain close to home, and to save money on placing pupils in costly independent school provision which may be a long way away.
Many local authorities, however, were already taking matters into their own hands, and reviewing provision locally. These included repurposing existing provision and buildings, creating new SEND hubs in multi-academy trusts and setting up specialist units in existing mainstream schools.
Beyond 2026
To prevent the threatened bankruptcy of local authorities, the government announced in June that the statutory override – a budgeting mechanism allowing councils to set budgets with big high needs deficits – would be extended for a further two years, until 2028.
But in a surprise announcement in this year’s budget, ministers said they would absorb the spiralling costs of SEND provision within central government budgets once the statutory override had expirted, which would leave it with a £6 billion annual shortfall, the Office for Budgetary Responsibility warned.
However, at the time of the announcement, no proposals were put forward about how the costs would be met but the move means that the cost pressures of the SEND system will sit on the government’s, and not councils’, books.
This long-term planning provides a timely reminder that nothing happens quickly where SEND is concerned. The eagerly-awaited white paper, set for publication in the new year, may offer some hope for future but channot cannot come fast enough for children who are struggling now.
