SEND students are being “overlooked” by further education policymakers and local authorities, leaving “significant gaps” in provision, staff shortages and vulnerable learners “locked out” of education.
The government have been told to create a ringfenced funding stream for special educational needs in FE after a damning parliamentary inquiry found post-16 SEND students were “rarely seen” as a funding priority.
In their ‘solving the SEND crisis’ report, the education select committee found young people with SEND experience a “sudden drop” in support when they leave school causing a very low likelihood of them passing maths and English qualifications and accessing vital specialist transport.
Committee chair Helen Hayes said her recommendations will require government investment, such as equipping front-line staff with training and resources, and a universal free bus pass for under-22s.
“Any piecemeal alternative would mean that we later look back at this period as the moment the government failed to finally solve the SEND crisis,” she said.
But FE experts had a mixed response to the report with some saying it “barely scratches the surface” of what post-16 SEND learners need.
Clare Howard, CEO of specialist colleges organisation Natspec, said the report missed calling for a clear designation for specialist FE, statutory access to transport and action on the pay gap between colleges and schools.
“We urge ministers to ensure that the SEND reforms in the upcoming white paper fully embrace further education, building on the committee’s recommendations,” she said.
“We want to see bold measures that give every learner, whatever their needs and ambitions, the chance to thrive during and beyond education.”
Government never fully costed SEND support
The report slammed the government after finding FE receives “insufficient attention” within SEND policy.
In the Children and Families Act 2014, policymakers extended the age range for young people to have the right to an educational, health and care (EHC) plan to 25 years old.
But Natspec told the committee this extension was “never fully costed”, ultimately leaving FE “disproportionately underfunded” and providers’ stretched with the support they can provide.
The report said 26.3 per cent of EHC plan holders are aged 16–25, but less than 10 per cent of the high needs budget goes to this age group.
“Despite this, these students are ‘rarely seen as a priority for funding’ by either local authorities or the government across SEND and FE policy,” the committee added.
MPs said their recommendation of ringfenced funding would enable FE providers to recruit and retain specialist staff, provide tailored learning resources, and make the reasonable adjustments necessary to ensure mainstream post-16 education is “genuinely inclusive”.
MPs also urged DfE to work across government to develop a “clear” strategy to address rising SEND-related deficits, which have been suspended from local authorities’ accounts until March 2028.
Catherine Sezen, director of education policy at the Association of Colleges, welcomed the inquiry’s conclusions.
“Current funding pressures are undermining the ability of colleges to deliver the high-quality, personalised support these learners deserve,” she said. “Without targeted investment, we risk failing a generation of young people at a pivotal stage in their development.”
Creating ‘genuinely inclusive’ support
The report said more than a decade after major SEND reform, the system was not delivering “as intended”.
“Gaps in provision and capacity are creating barriers to timely support, limiting progress, and preventing improved outcomes for children and young people with SEND,” the committee said.
The committee recommended the Department for Education establish a national standardised framework offering evidence-led guidance and real-world SEN support examples for educators, “providing a consistent baseline to help education settings become more inclusive”.
“In the long term, a genuinely inclusive, well-resourced mainstream education system will bring down the desperate struggle to obtain an EHC plan,” Hayes said. “This will also help stabilise the sector financially.”
Howard added: “Crucially, the report recognises that we need to raise the floor of provision, not lower the ceiling of entitlement, and that reforms must be introduced gradually and carefully so that inclusion is built on strong foundations rather than quick fixes.”
Review home-to-school transport
MPs also heard nearly 60 per cent of SEND learners face changes to their transport arrangements when they turn 16, with one in seven losing it altogether.
Councils are not obliged to fund transport for learners over 16, but some continue to provide it with the addition of a financial contribution from families.
“No young person should be locked out of education because of a transport need,” they said.
An FE Week investigation last year found instances of young learners neglected from poor council transport provision.
The committee advised the government review home to school transport and force councils to provide travel training programmes so young people can learn to travel independently.
MPs also supported the transport select committee’s call in August for a universal free bus pass for under-22s to ensure access to education and training.
English and maths
The report urged reform to the post-16 condition of funding, requiring maths and English GCSE students to resit the qualification if they don’t achieve a grade 4 or above.
SEND learners are around 40 per cent less likely to pass English and maths GCSEs, even with resits.
Additionally, only 30 per cent of young people with EHC plans achieved level 2 qualifications by age 19 in 2021-22, compared to nearly 37 per cent in 2014-15.
“We also agree that the current English and maths condition of funding policy should be reviewed as a matter of urgency,” Sezen added. “We would like to see a system which ensures that more young people achieve a solid foundation on these crucial skills at both 16 and post-16.’’
Students without the grade 4 pass at age 16 should be placed on one of three pathways, the committee recommended. Those with a “realistic prospect” of achievement should be supported to do, alternative qualifications should be offered to students who are “very unlikely” to achieve and students on vocational courses should be “considered for exemption” if employers are assured English and maths skills are embedded in the curriculum.
The committee also raised concerns about the extent to which the apprenticeship pathway is genuinely inclusive for young people with SEND.
“The reduction in young people with SEND remaining in apprenticeships risks limiting career prospects, undermining efforts to improve inclusion in the labour market, and increasing the likelihood of poorer long-term outcomes,” it said.
Workforce shortages
The report outlined concerns with shortages of specialist staff such as speech and language therapists and occupational therapists.
A 2024 workforce survey of speech and language therapists found a vacancy rate of 19 per cent and only 58 per cent of occupational therapists said they provide enough support to children and young people with SEND.
Consequently, the committee urged DfE to publish statutory requirements detailing the minimum resources, specialist expertise, and equipment that every educational setting must have access to.
“This would establish a clear, enforceable baseline covering staffing, training, physical materials, and assistive technologies,” the report said.
MPs also called for updated cycles of initial teacher training and the early career framework relating to SEND, and for continuing professional development on SEND to be mandatory for all teachers in mainstream education.
DfE was contacted for comment.
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