Beyond the EHCP: Navigating the Future of SEND Support in England

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Beyond the EHCP: Navigating the Future of SEND Support in England

The landscape of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support in England is on the cusp of significant change. The UK government is signaling a major overhaul, with whispers of fundamentally altering or even replacing the familiar Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) system. The stated aim is to reduce bureaucracy, provide "better support for children at the earliest stage," and foster greater inclusion within mainstream settings. While the ambition is laudable, a critical examination reveals profound challenges that must be addressed if these reforms are to genuinely improve outcomes for the nation's most vulnerable learners.

The "Early Intervention" Paradox: When Diagnosis Lags

At the heart of the government's proposed shift is a strong emphasis on "early intervention." The theory is sound: address needs early, prevent escalation, and reduce the reliance on costly, often adversarial, formal plans. However, this vision clashes head-on with a stark reality: the current state of diagnostic services, particularly for neurodevelopmental conditions like autism.

Across the UK, families routinely face agonisingly long waiting lists, often stretching to several years, for an autism diagnosis. By the time a child receives a formal identification, the window for what is traditionally considered "early" intervention has frequently slammed shut.

This diagnostic bottleneck is exacerbated by the often-misunderstood presentation of autism in girls. Unlike the more externalised behaviours historically associated with autism, girls often:

  • Present differently: Their struggles may manifest as anxiety, depression, perfectionism, or social withdrawal, easily misattributed to other conditions.
  • Master "masking": Autistic girls often develop sophisticated coping mechanisms to camouflage their traits and fit in socially. This intense effort to appear neurotypical is exhausting and can lead to burnout, but it also means their underlying difficulties go unnoticed by parents, teachers, and professionals.
  • Internalise struggles: Sensory sensitivities, social misunderstandings, and rigid thinking are frequently internalised, making their needs less apparent to others.
If a child isn't identified until adolescence, or even adulthood, due to these factors, the very premise of "early intervention" becomes moot for a significant portion of the SEND population.

The Uncharted Waters: Effects on Schools

Should EHCPs be significantly narrowed or replaced, the pressure on mainstream schools would intensify dramatically. These institutions would be expected to manage a wider spectrum of complex needs without the explicit statutory funding and provision that EHCPs currently guarantee. The primary concern is funding. Schools already grapple with inadequate SEND budgets. If they are tasked with providing more in-house "early intervention" without a corresponding, ring-fenced increase in resources, it will inevitably lead to:

  • Resource diversion: Funds may be diverted from other vital areas, impacting all pupils.
  • Staffing crisis: The existing struggle to recruit and retain qualified SEND staff (SENCOs, teaching assistants, specialist teachers) could worsen under increased demand and workload.
  • Increased workload for all staff: Mainstream teachers, who often feel underprepared for teaching pupils with SEND, will require extensive, ongoing professional development covering diverse needs and inclusive strategies. SENCOs, already overwhelmed, face an expanded role in early identification and internal coordination.
  • Challenges with identification: Without formal diagnostic pathways, schools would rely more heavily on teacher observation and internal assessments, risking subjectivity and inconsistency, and potentially missing children who mask their difficulties.
  • Parental Trust and Conflict: Parents often rely on EHCPs as a legal safeguard. Weakening this guarantee without equivalent robust support could lead to increased parental dissatisfaction and disputes with schools.
While the aim of greater inclusion is positive, without substantial investment and structural support, these changes risk overwhelming the mainstream system and potentially declining the quality of SEND provision.

Funding the Future: Where the Money (and the Gap) Lies

The government acknowledges the financial strain on SEND provision, particularly the spiralling high needs deficits faced by local authorities. They are proposing several funding avenues, though critics argue these remain insufficient.

Key funding approaches include:

Capital Investment for New Specialist Places:

The government has committed £740 million for 2025-26 to create new specialist places. This funding is part of a broader £6.7 billion education budget and will be used for:

  • Adapting existing school buildings to be more accessible.
  • Expanding specialist units within mainstream schools, providing dedicated support within a regular school environment.
  • Creating entirely new places in special schools for children with the most profound and complex needs.
  • Specific features such as sensory rooms, breakout spaces for self-regulation, and investing in assistive technology.

High Needs Block Reform:

There are proposals to reform how the "high needs block" (which funds EHCPs) is distributed, aiming for greater consistency and transparency, and potentially reviewing the £6,000 threshold that mainstream schools are expected to contribute from their core budgets. Programs like the "Safety Valve Programme" also aim to help councils with the largest deficits manage their spending.

Emphasis on Early Intervention:

The hope is that effective early support will ultimately lead to a more financially sustainable system by reducing the need for costly later interventions. However, many stakeholders argue that the announced funding, while welcome, simply doesn't meet the scale of the challenge. The increase in high needs funding has not kept pace with the dramatic rise in pupils with EHCPs, leading to a real-terms decline in per-pupil funding. Concerns also persist about the "top-slicing" of mainstream school budgets to cover high needs deficits, effectively impacting all pupils.

A Call for Genuine Transformation

The move to reform SEND provision offers an opportunity for genuine improvement, but only if the government confronts the systemic realities. Without drastically reducing diagnostic waiting times, comprehensively training all professionals in the diverse presentations of conditions like autism, providing genuinely needs-based support independent of a diagnostic label, and, crucially, making a substantial, long-term financial commitment, the "early intervention" agenda risks becoming another policy that leaves too many children, especially those who quietly mask their struggles, falling through the cracks.

The ambition must be matched by robust, well-resourced implementation for the sake of every child with SEND.

Conclusion

The government's ambition to reform SEND provision and potentially move beyond the EHCP system is born from a desire for more efficient, effective, and early support. However, as this article has explored, the path is fraught with significant challenges. The disconnect between the ideal of "early intervention" and the reality of lengthy diagnostic waits, coupled with the systemic under-recognition of conditions like autism in girls, threatens to undermine the very foundation of these reforms.

Furthermore, placing greater responsibility on already stretched mainstream schools, without a commensurate, ring-fenced increase in funding, comprehensive staff training, and robust access to specialist expertise, risks overwhelming the system and ultimately diminishing the quality of support for children with complex needs. The proposed capital investments for specialist places are a positive step, but they must be part of a much larger, sustained financial commitment.

For this ambitious overhaul to genuinely succeed, it must transcend rhetoric and address the fundamental realities on the ground. True reform demands not just a change in plans, but a profound commitment to tackling diagnostic backlogs, fostering a deeper understanding of diverse needs, and, crucially, making a truly sufficient and sustained investment in every part of the SEND ecosystem. Only then can we ensure that every child with special educational needs and disabilities receives the timely, appropriate, and equitable support they deserve, allowing them to thrive and reach their full potential.