Critical shortage of Ed Pychologists and lack of plan to expand training numbers puts #SEND reforms (Experts At Hand) at risk of being undeliverable.
💸 Investigation: Councils are spending up to four times as much per pupil on private special schools as state special schools, with private placement costs growing twice as fast over four years
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/soaring-cost-of-private-provision-revealed-as-ministers-plan-curbs/
Whitehall is continuing to tighten its grip on councils’ SEND functions by forcing them to agree to prioritise mainstream specialist places or face having capital cash withheld
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/send-whitehall-to-leverage-capital-cash-to-force-council-mainstream-focus/
“Slowly but surely, the state is retreating from individual entitlement-based support for disabled people across both employment and education, reframing it as a provider responsibility, without increasing provider funding, hoping we don’t notice”
New from me
Things Can Get Worse.
Why I'm so worried about the SEND reform direction of travel.
bennewmark.wordpress.com/2026/03/26/t...
Two-thirds of special schools (inc NMSS) over capacity
~11,000 pupils over capacity, special school places in the capital pipeline won't be enough
Median number of spare places per school, in special schools that aren't over capacity = 4
NEW POST: @captaink77.bsky.social explains the Government's carrot and stick funding strategy as it steamrollers over dissent to its SEND reforms, without waiting for evidence or consultation www.specialneedsjungle.com/c...
Rising demand from children with special needs means the £140m required could come from government grants
www.theguardian.com
Findings come as the government gears up to rein in spending on private special schools
And at the same time, it looks like supply suppression is the policy lever of choice
The DfE says (privately) that they will rate this as exemplary practice for the SEND reform plans that each LA has to submit in order to get deficit relief this autumn
h/t schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-dfe...
Thread #SEN : I’ve been contemplating the SEN reforms. With a limited budget, how will government ensure all schools have equal & fair access to Experts at Hand? The single Case Study cited as an example of EaH in practice has given me cause to think. It’s screenshotted below with link in ALT text /
There are more than 700 special schools over capacity. Nearly 200 of those are at 120% PAN or higher. But DfE wants LAs to curb future supply increases now. Not in three years, when reforms will kick in. Now
Schools Week
Ben Newmark
Matt Keer
Matt Keer
Special schools in England are over-capacity by around 11,000 pupils, new government data shows, despite an increase in the number of settings year-on-year
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/special-schools-over-capacity-by-11000-pupils/
Special Needs Jungle
Matt Keer
Matt Keer
Around two-thirds of special schools are over-capacity, DfE says
This week on Wonkhe: A new DfE consultation would restrict DSA-funded software to "exceptional circumstances" across almost every category. Jim Dickinson adds up the cumulative impact on disabled students
Schools Week
wonkhe.com
A new DfE consultation would restrict DSA-funded software to "exceptional circumstances" across almost every category. Jim Dickinson adds up the cumulative impact on disabled students A new DfE consultation...
