If everyone is a SEND teacher FE needs to train them, and fast

That Ofsted’s inspection framework introduces inclusion as a standalone point of evaluation sends a clear message: meeting the needs of learners with SEND is essential, not optional, in FE.

With the schools white paper delayed until next year, the FE sector faces both uncertainty and opportunity.

But, regardless of what the white paper delivers, the reality remains that with learners requiring additional support rising year on year, supporting learners with SEND must be a core outcome via planning and assessment, not the exception.  

Every FE practitioner, irrespective of specialism or vocational background, must be trained and confident to support learners with SEND; we cannot afford to wait for policy to catch up. Equipping staff with inclusive practice isn’t just a regulatory requirement, it is a moral imperative.

In theory, the framework updates feel like long-overdue progress. But in practice, they expose a significant disconnect between expectation and reality.  

Professional challenge 

The Chartered College of Teaching recently highlighted that teacher retention problems are exacerbated by systemic failures in SEND provision, with staff feeling under-prepared to meet diverse learner needs.

Within FE, many arrive from industry with strong vocational expertise but little training in inclusive pedagogy or specialist interventions.

In 2013, the government removed the requirement for newly appointed FE teachers to undergo formal teacher training, creating a workforce with varied prior experience.

While this enabled FE providers to tap into vocational talent, a significant proportion of staff may never have encountered the complexities of supporting learners with SEND. 

The scale of SEND need in FE is staggering. In 2024-25, 88,200 young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) were in FE settings, and over 80 per cent of these were in sixth form and FE colleges.

At Activate Learning alone, our student support and safeguarding team supported over 7,000 learners with additional needs and reviewed around 2,200 EHCPs from a 16-19 cohort of 10,000. 

Nationally, while 26.3 per cent of EHCPs are for learners aged 16-25, less than 10 per cent of the high-needs budget goes to this age group.

As the education select committee recently concluded in its report on the SEND crisis, FE is “disproportionately underfunded”, primarily because the SEND system extension to age 25 was never fully costed.  

Post-16 cliff edge 

It also described a “sharp decline in support” for learners at 16 where FE infrastructure and wraparound support rarely mirrors what is provided in schools, and funding is significantly lower.

Any learner requiring SEND support without an EHCP gets nothing, as there is no dedicated funding for SEND support after 16. 

Only 43 per cent of SEND learners surveyed had received a careers interview, and many reported receiving advice focused solely on university pathways, thus excluding vocational or supported employment options.

Industry professionals entering teaching roles navigate not only curriculum delivery but also a policy landscape that has failed to account for their sector, and without the pedagogical foundation to recognise and respond to diverse classroom needs.  

What the schools white paper must deliver 

1. A clear investment in the development of the FE workforce in the form of comprehensive SEND and inclusive pedagogy training for all practitioners, beginning with embedding SEND awareness into initial teacher training and CPD. 
2. Address calls for dedicated, ring-fenced funding for post-16 SEND support to enable the recruitment of specialist staff and high-quality tailored provision.  
3. Improve data-sharing protocols and cross-sector collaboration to reduce reliance on challenges such as self-disclosure.  
4. An alignment of FE and SEND policy across both white papers (schools and post-16 education and skills), Ofsted frameworks and the curriculum and assessment review, to ensure genuine coherence and impact. 

Moving forward 

Ofsted has rightly placed inclusion at the heart of education. Now, the white paper must deliver the tools to enable this.

Every teacher canbe a SEND teacher, as outlined in SEND policy, but only if they are equipped with training, infrastructure and policy support. FE providers need systemic investment to make genuine inclusion possible rather than aspirational.