SEND review must take lessons from 2014 reforms, Ofsted’s chief inspector says

The 2014 reforms, which included the introduction of education health and care plans (EHCP), “essentially had the same aims” as the government’s SEND and alternative provision green paper which was published earlier this month, Amanda Spielman told the 2022 Schools and Academies Show.

However, “translating them into practice proved difficult”, she told delegates, adding: “There is a lot to get right to make these new proposals work.”

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The proposals include improved integration of SEND support in mainstream schools as well as the creation of new national standards across education, health and care services and plans to move EHCPs online.

Spielman issued a warning to the government “to avoid adding unnecessary layers of bureaucracy to an already complex system”.

“The devil will be in the detail of the new national standards,” she said.

Spielman also told the conference that it is “so important not to treat children with SEND as a homogenous group”, noting that while some children benefit from quick diagnosis and support, for others “there are risks to being too quick to move to formal diagnosis, as it can lower expectations of adults and of children themselves”.

“We need a system where schools put support in place without needing a formal diagnosis, and only move to that when it is clear the resources needed to support the child are beyond what can be provided by the school,” she added.

The speech comes after campaigners warned measures proposed in the green paper could “create further barriers” to support for some families.

These include forcing parents to pick a school from a pre-defined list, which could "limit choice and prevent a young person from accessing a school that is best for them".