Special spaces may play a crucial role in the government’s planned overhaul of support for special educational needs.
Secondary schools in the U.K. would be required to provide specially designed areas for neurodiverse children and pupils with special educational requirements, as shared by ministers.
Universal ‘inclusion bases’ are spaces away from classrooms where children with additional needs can get support for some lessons. They are viewed as a key part of the government’s intentions to overhaul special educational needs and disabilities support.
Ministers have been promoting a vision of a more inclusive education system. This comes ahead of the publication of a landmark school’s white paper. It is widely viewed as the most high-stakes policy reform the government has ever attempted since the welfare rebellion last year.
Sending provision is one of the issues MPs are most contacted about. Some fear a backlash against intentions that are expected to increase the bar. Children in England qualify for an education, health and care plan. It’s the document that legally entitles children to extra support.
Some schools already exist with inclusion-based approaches. They are part of a USD 5.069bn (£3.7bn) investment to redesign the system. It would create up to 60,000 bespoke places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream schools. They could be set up in spare classrooms or purpose-built, as shared by a spokesperson from the Department for Education on Wednesday, 4 February ’26.
New guidance published this spring may set out expectations that schools should improve inclusivity and accessibility. This may mean creating breakout rooms, accessible changing facilities, and outdoor learning spaces such as sensory gardens. Such improvement is in addition to improving lighting, acoustics and ventilation.
Lead author of an Institute for Public Policy Research report on reforming the send system, Avnee Morjaria, shared that it is vital that children with send feel school is a place where they belong, with inclusion being an important part of making schools more inclusive.
The chief executive of IPSEA, which is a part of the Save Our Children’s Rights campaign, Madeleine Cassidy, opined that schools already had a legal duty under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments for children, although too often ignored. She asserted that investing properly in inclusive practice is a matter of children’s rights. It’s also a more sustainable approach that may reduce costs and pressure on the support mechanism in the long term.
General Secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, Paul Whiteman, said that clarity was also needed for primary schools. He added that the government also needed to focus on ensuring schools had the staff and training they required.
General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Pepe Di’Lasio, believed that inclusion bases were only one half of the equation, whilst schools also needed funding for specialists and training.
As part of the Department of Education estate strategy published on Wednesday, 4 February, schools will be given access to a USD 959 (£700m) repairs funding pot. Officials will use school building data to identify the buildings most at risk of closure, caused by major structural issues such as leaking roofs and failing boilers.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, stated that the combined measures aim to eliminate obstacles to opportunities.
For too long, schools and colleges have been compelled to patch and mend buildings that have already deteriorated. As such, they spend their time concerned about leaking roofs instead of focusing on what matters most. She added that these changes may benefit every child with the best possible education.
In a report on Wednesday, 4 February, MPs warned that while the government had made a start on removing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) from schools, significant concerns remained about England’s school estate.
