Across FE, thousands of staff work tirelessly supporting young people with SEND to build confidence, gain skills and live more independent lives. Yet the essential role of specialist FE too often goes unrecognised.
The Power of Specialist FE awareness week – taking place in the first week of December – aims to change this.
Coordinated by Natspec, which represents and supports specialist FE providers in England and Wales, the campaign celebrates the vital role all FE providers play in enabling learners with SEND to succeed. We want to remind policymakers, employers and the public that an equitable education system must serve every learner, not just those who fit into mainstream pathways.
Why this campaign matters now
The number of children and young people identified as having SEND in England has surpassed 1.7 million – the highest figure ever recorded.
Over 26 per cent of education, health and care plan (EHCP) holders are aged 16 to 25. But post-16 education provision rarely receives the same level of attention or investment as SEND in schools, despite being the place where many young people with complex needs develop the skills and independence that will shape the rest of their lives.
This creates a critical gap in the system, leaving too many young people facing uncertainty about what comes after school.
In its FE and skills inquiry, the education select committee recognised the “neglect of FE SEND policy, as well as inefficiencies, limited accountability and policy fragmentation”. Natspec has repeatedly called for closing this policy vacuum.
Our aims
Our campaign’s ambition is to change the narrative. It gives us the opportunity to celebrate what works, and to raise awareness of the specialist expertise that exists across our colleges. We want to champion the belief that a key tenet of an inclusive education is that it sets up young people to be better included in their adult lives thereafter.
The campaign will build awareness of the contribution of specialist FE to an inclusive education system. It will shine a light on the work being done by highly specialist staff in both specialist and general FE settings, often working across disciplines to make education and training accessible, relevant and impactful for young people with some of the most complex needs.
As a result, we hope that policymakers will acknowledge the vital role of specialist FE in the upcoming SEND reforms and put forward proposals that more securely support providers to offer high-quality provision.
Together, they form a system that works best when every type of provision is valued for its distinctive contribution. When learners have access to the right provision, they gain agency, confidence and purpose. They contribute to their communities, move into work or volunteering and lead more independent lives. That is The Power of Specialist FE in action.
At the heart of this campaign are learners themselves. Throughout the awareness week, colleges will share learner stories on social media and in local media, celebrating their journeys and achievements. These stories, told by learners in their own words, reveal the power of specialist FE to change lives and challenge public misconceptions about disability.
Colleges are also inviting their MPs to visit campuses and meet learners in person to hear their stories. These visits are often transformative, enabling policymakers to see first-hand the outcomes that specialist FE delivers, from improved social outcomes to stronger links with local employers.
A collective call to action
Beyond the awareness week itself, The Power of Specialist FE is a movement. We are calling on policymakers to embed specialist FE firmly within post-16 education and skills strategies, backed by sustainable funding that reflects the complexity and cost of delivering transformative education and training.
Colleges and providers across the FE landscape can get involved through sharing stories, amplifying our campaign’s message or engaging with their local representatives.
Resources to support campaign participation are available on our campaign website. Together we can bring to life the work of this part of the sector and make it impossible for policymakers to overlook it in the future.
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