As the government faces a critical juncture in addressing the growing challenges of special educational needs (SEN) provision in England, a new report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has highlighted the urgent need for reform. The report reveals that government spending on educating children with special needs is set to double between 2015 and 2028, putting significant strain on funding for mainstream schools.
The IFS report paints a stark picture, warning that these financial pressures “risk crowding out resources for mainstream schools and constraining the system’s ability to deliver a broad, balanced and high-quality education for all.” Luke Sibieta, one of the report’s authors, emphasises that the current system is “increasingly costly and failing to deliver for those who need it.”
In the face of this growing dysfunction, ministers now confront a series of tough choices. They can either slow the growth of SEN spending, accept an ongoing squeeze on mainstream school funding, or inject additional resources into the education system through higher taxes or reallocations elsewhere.
One potential solution, according to the IFS, would be to capitalise on falling school rolls to redirect £1.8 billion towards SEN funding by 2028. However, the report also cautions that reducing the use of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) or limiting the support they can provide “would likely be needed to meaningfully slow high-needs spending growth,” though any savings would be slow to materialise.
The government’s upcoming schools white paper is expected to outline plans to expand SEN provision in mainstream state schools, allowing more children with special needs to attend local schools rather than compete for scarce and more expensive special school places. Pepe Di’Iazio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, emphasises that while there is “fantastic work going on in many schools and colleges to support young people with SEN, the system as a whole is not meeting the current level of need in the way it should.”
As the government grapples with these complex challenges, the IFS report serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for meaningful reform to ensure that the education system can effectively support all children, regardless of their individual needs.
