Government publishes Schools White Paper and begins SEND consultation

On Monday 23 February 2026, the Department for Education (DfE) published the long-awaited Schools White Paper: Every child achieving and thriving setting its vision for education reform as well as proposals to reform the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system in England. We have outlined some of the main proposals below.

Early years funding

The Government has announced a new Inclusive Early Years Fund to support early years providers to identify and respond where children have emerging additional needs. This includes an additional £47 million for SEND funding support for early years settings in 2026/27 (grant funding separate from SEN Inclusion Funding – SENIF). The Government is also introducing new National Inclusion Standards and early identification tools for a consistent, evidence-based understanding of best practice.

Tiered layers of support

A new approach to SEND support in education settings will cover flexible tiers of support: universal, targeted/targeted-plus, and specialist support.

Universal support will be provided for all children in settings, which will be expected to play a more central role in identifying and responding to SEND. There are three further layers of support:

Targeted: Individual Support Plans (ISPs) will be introduced for children with SEND. School-based settings will have a legal duty to create these digital records. The Government says it will “work with private voluntary and independent early years providers, including childminders to understand how ISPs could work in their settings”.

Targeted-plus: improved access to external expertise though inclusion bases (dedicated spaces in mainstream education settings) and the new Experts at Hand offer to access education and healthcare professionals.

Specialist: Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) will be reserved for children with the most severe and complex needs under the “specialist” tier and will be digitalised. Those children with existing EHCPs will not immediately lose these – a review will begin from 2029.

SEND training

As announced previously, the Government has committed £200 million for universal SEND training. This will be available to all education professionals (including childminders) ensure that more children and young people with SEND receive the correct support to both identify their needs and support them to thrive. Coram PACEY will be working closely with the Department for Education to ensure that this training is relevant, accessible and flexible for childminders whilst also reviewing and increasing our own library of resources, guidance and training on SEND.

Consultation on SEND reforms

The Government is now consulting on proposals to reform the SEND system for children and young people aged 0-25. Anyone with an interest in SEND reforms is encouraged to participate – including children, young people and families, early years and school educators, local authorities and more. This consultation will close for submissions at 11:59pm on 18 May 2026.

Coram PACEY will be engaging with our members to inform our response to this consultation. Please look out for opportunity to be involved in this soon. You are also encouraged to submit your own individual response and share this with families who may be interested in engaging with the consultation.

Ka Lai Brightley-Hodges, Head of Coram PACEY comments:

“The long-awaited SEND reforms proposed alongside the Schools White Paper are a positive step and we now urge the Government to ensure childminders are fully recognised and utilised within this.

Childminders are uniquely placed to deliver high-quality SEND care and education. Their small, nurturing home-based environments enable highly personalised and flexible support, strong relationships with families, and swift implementation of adjustments. Yet childminders remain significantly underutilised in SEND provision and the workforce’s continued decline reflects the need for strategic action from Government. If we are serious about early intervention and inclusion, childminders must be embedded as a core part of delivery and properly supported to sustain and expand their role.

To achieve impact at scale, SEND support and training must be accessible and relevant to all settings, including sole workers, and childminders must be financially supported to undertake training during working hours. This requires a review of current funding arrangements; without it, equal access to professional development will not be possible.

We also recognise that the proposed changes to EHCPs has caused immediate concerns for parents. Much of the detail remains under consultation and we hope the Government’s ambitions are matched by genuine collaboration with families, early years and childcare professionals, and wider education and family services to deliver meaningful change.”