The government’s key promise to fix the broken SEND system is to make mainstream schools more inclusive. But how big a challenge will this be? Samantha Booth investigates …
The government’s long-awaited SEND reforms have promised a more “inclusive education system”.
But the Department of Education’s own research last year found that while some schools have “legitimate” reasons for saying they can’t meet the needs of a pupil with education, health and care plans (EHCPs), a “minority” of schools and trusts used “inappropriate and unlawful practices” to “avoid” admitting these children.
Schools are “subtly” dissuading parents by claiming they could not meet their child’s needs, the research says. But it happens “overtly” too, with schools refusing admission.
