The calls from charity Speech & Language UK follow the Department for Education’s publication of new guidance on how the previously announced £740 million capital funding for SEND places in 2025/26 will work.
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The charity also highlights that the Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP), a DfE-backed initiative providing “vital” SEND training to the early years workforce, is due to close today.
The EYPDP was launched in 2021 to address the personal, social emotional and communication difficulties of young children following the Covid-19 pandemic, helping them enter school with the communication skills required to thrive.
Jane Harris, the charity’s chief executive, welcomed the £740mn, but said it "raises many questions" around capacity and skills of the SEND workforce.
Harris added: "Who is going to teach the children who take up the 10,000 new places? Who is going to train the extra specialist staff required?
"Where are we going to find the extra speech and language therapists needed to ensure mainstream school are inclusive and all pupils thrive?
“There is a risk of this investment being wasted if it is only used for improving the school buildings and not what happens inside them.
“We need serious investment in and a commitment to the training for all school and early years staff and an immediate recruitment campaign for school-based speech and language therapists to really change the fortunes of children with SEND.”
DfE guidance details how local authorities can use the £740mm to adapt mainstream schools for pupils with SEND, as well as to create new places in special schools.
The DfE also highlighted new data revealing that there are 8,000 more secondary school pupils in special schools in England than places available for them last year – a rise of 25% in 12 months.
Fewer than 1 in 10 mainstream schools have SEN units or resourced provision providing more intensive support for pupils with SEND, it says.
Between 2010 and 2024, the number of children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) or their previous equivalent being educated in independent special schools increased from 7,000 to 26,000.
The funding can be used to ensure an inclusive environment in which all pupils can be supported, for example by creating breakout spaces where children can go to self-regulate or investing in assistive technology.
The DfE said this comes alongside a £1 billion investment to fund 44,500 places in mainstream schools needed by 2028.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “As part of our Plan for Change, we want every family to have access to a good local school for their child, breaking the link between children’s background and their opportunities in life.
“This investment is a big step towards delivering not only enough school places, but the right school places, supporting all children and particularly those with SEND, and plugging the significant gaps in provision we inherited.
“This investment will give children with SEND the support they need to thrive, marking the start of a turning point for families who have been fighting to improve their children’s outcomes.”
Amanda Allard, director of the Council for Disabled Children at the National Children’s Bureau, welcomed the government’s focus on local authorities supporting schools to have their “needs met in inclusive local schools”.
Allard said: “We know from our work with local areas, and through the What Works in SEND programme, that there is some very effective practice across the country, and we encourage local areas to share and learn from this as they develop inclusive provision which enables children and young people to learn, develop friendships and be part of their community.”
