A government-backed scheme to screen young children for speech and language difficulties found that more youngsters had unidentified needs than teachers had expected.
The interim report, which evaluated the first full year of the scheme to July 2025, pointed to the “critical importance of early interventions”.
It found that the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme, which was launched in September 2023 jointly by the Department for Education and NHS England, was “successfully addressing” children’s challenges and helped to prevent them from worsening as they grew older.
The programme provided the funding for “innovative workforce models” aimed at early identification and support for children with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN).
The scheme was piloted across nine areas, which adopted different approaches to SLCN screening. Overall. 17,000 children were supported through a universal intervention and 4,600 though targeted help. As part of the scheme almost 4,000 staff received specialist training.
Preventing escalation
The report found that “the programme’s emphasis on universal screening and early support is successfully addressing previously unidentified speech and language needs and helping to prevent escalation.”
However, it added “the scale of previously unidentified need is greater than anticipated. Targeted interventions may need to be further ‘universalised’ to meet demand.”
It also revealed that overall universal screening and the upskilling of staff “resulted in earlier and more accurate identification of SLCM, reducing inappropriate referrals to specialist services and enabling more children to receive support in their settings”.
The DfE and NHS paid £2.2 million a year each to finance the two-year pilot, which was due to end last May, but was extended for 12 months.
Ministers had intended for ELSEC to “pave the way for a reformed SEND system” and that it “forms one part of the government’s work testing SEND reforms”.
Details of the government’s SEND reforms will be outlined in a White Paper, scheduledto be published this month.
