The government is setting a new expectation that all teachers and staff in schools should receive training on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and inclusion.
The Department for Education has announced today that it is introducing this to the SEND Code of Practice and will be spending £200 million on new training courses.
The government said that it was acting on feedback from parents through its national engagement events on SEND. The announcement comes ahead of the delayed publication of its plans for SEND reform through a schools White Paper, expected early this year.
The government has said training materials, developed alongside experts, will be shared with every school and college to enable in-house training for all staff on SEND and inclusion.
Training in SEND support
It has also promised investment in training for teaching assistants, which will be developed in the coming months to “ensure support staff feel equipped and confident to support all students with SEND”.
And there will be a new early years CPD programme providing free training focused on inclusive practice, child development and practical strategies for supporting children with SEND - which will be made available to all early years practitioners.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Every child, wherever they live and whatever their needs, should have the opportunity to go to a local school where they can achieve and thrive.
“That’s why we’re equipping staff across every stage of education with more training on SEND and inclusion than ever before - helping to deliver our vision of a truly inclusive education system.”
The DfE has said training will be “delivered flexibly to slot into teachers’ busy schedules” and it will “promote practical skills about how to make education more inclusive, how to work effectively with parents, and how targeted support can ensure every student reaches their full potential”.
The announcement comes after schools minister Georgia Gould highlighted teacher training as a key focus of the government’s SEND reforms.
Speaking to Vlog last week at an engagement event in Darlington, she said: “The things we hear from teachers are that they want more training and more support, more partnership with the specialist sector around the strategies that work, and more support around identifying needs.”
‘Increasing complexity of need’
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said the investment in training was welcome but was not enough on its own.
“Given the increasing complexity of need schools are seeing, it is only right that teachers and support staff are given high-quality training in this area. The right training is often lacking at the moment, and it is vital this situation improves to help schools, including mainstream settings which support most children with additional needs, in their efforts to provide an inclusive learning environment,” he said.
“However, training alone will not be enough - it must be part of a comprehensive package of reform and investment. Both mainstream and special schools need better access to specialist staff and sufficient funding.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The government is right that providing additional training is a key part of building a better system to support children with special educational needs, and we welcome this commitment. Whether this investment is sufficient to deliver training of the depth and quality required at massive scale across a system in which there are around half a million teachers remains to be seen.”
He said that the expectation that all staff in every nursery, school and college should receive training on SEND and inclusion was good in principle, but it “is a huge undertaking and it will clearly take time to deliver in practice”.
Training ‘needs to have impact’
Leaders in teacher development have welcomed the funding but stressed that training should be evidence-based and designed to ensure that it impacts on teachers’ practice.
Gareth Conyard, CEO of the Teacher Development Trust, said: “Clearly any investment in professional development should be a cause for celebration, and it is good to see the DfE investing across the system, from early years to FE, and to include teaching assistants.
“But it isn’t just about the money. As our Teacher Development: the CPD Landscape in 2025 report showed last autumn, 39 per cent of teachers and leaders say CPD is having little or no impact on their practice. This funding needs to be different, responding to the best evidence, but also to local conditions and needs, if it is to be effective.”
Melanie Renowden, CEO of the National Institute of Teaching, said: “Teachers’ professional development is integral to improving our education system.”
She said it was “particularly important that we use research evidence on professional development to increase the efficacy and impact of the training on offer, to guarantee the greatest benefit to children”.
“Implemented effectively, in partnership with schools and trusts, this investment has the potential to enable teachers and leaders to deliver better outcomes for all children, including those with SEND,” Ms Renowden said.
Teachers ‘can’t avert SEND crisis alone’
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said: “While £200 million to support teacher SEND training is very welcome, it is also barely a drop in the bucket of the funding necessary to make sustained and significant change.
“Teachers alone cannot avert the SEND crisis, no matter their levels of expertise. Our members report rising numbers of pupils with increasingly complex SEND and mental health needs, long delays in accessing assessments and specialist support, cuts to external services, and growing levels of stress. Any new training expectations placed upon teachers must recognise these realities.”
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