Mainstream schools have been told to prioritise early intervention and “enriching provision beyond the classroom”, under reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities system.

The expectations have been set out by the Department for Education today in a best practice guide on how to use its new Inclusive Mainstream Fund, under which schools will receive £400 million annually for three years.

As Tes reported last night, the average primary school is set to receive £14,000 from the fund in 2026-27, while the average-sized secondary will receive £48,000.

Universal offer: what schools have to provide

Under the DfE’s planned SEND reforms, schools will provide four tiers of support: a “universal offer” to all pupils, as well as “targeted”, “targeted plus” and “specialist” support for pupils with SEND, depending on their level of need.

The DfE said today that it expects the universal offer to “embed inclusive practice in line with seven principles of inclusion”.

These are:

• Ambitious leadership and governance that embed inclusion.
• Evidence-based support prioritising early intervention.
• High-quality teaching, with curriculum designed for all learners.
• Accessible and enriching provision beyond the classroom.
• A safe and respectful culture fostering belonging and attendance.
• Strong partnerships with families and wider services.
• Inclusive environments with continuous improvements to accessibility.
   

Inclusion strategy by December

All schools will be required to publish an inclusion strategy from December 2026.

This will be used “to hold them accountable on how they will deliver inclusive whole-school approaches and evidence-based support to meet the needs of their cohort, including pupils with SEND”.

Schools will be expected to report on how they deploy their inclusive mainstream funding to improve the quality of their universal offer and remove barriers to learning.

Teacher training

The government has already announced that a separate £200 million will be spent on providing training for all staff on SEND and inclusion.

However, its guide published today confirms that schools can also use their inclusive mainstream funding for training and to cover costs for strengthening approaches to adaptive teaching.

This could include training in - and delivery of - evidence-based interventions.

It could also include flexible grouping, strategies, scaffolding and using technology to support pupils with SEND.

Targeted offer

Children and young people whose needs cannot be met through the universal offer will be supported through targeted provision.

This, the government says, could include small group interventions to remove ongoing barriers to learning; for example, to develop language skills or to pre-teach vocabulary to help pupils access the curriculum.

Schools could also choose to spend their inclusive mainstream funding on CPD for leaders and teachers “to support the deployment of effective, early targeted smaller-group interventions for pupils who need it most”.

Schools could put the funding towards teaching assistant training and time and resources for support, such as the Nuffield Early Language Intervention Programme (NELI) for Reception-aged children who need extra support with speech and language development.

School culture

The DfE also says that schools should ensure that consistent processes are in place to identify and support all pupils’ wellbeing needs, and that all pupils should “feel safe, respected and develop a sense of belonging”.

It says schools could use funding to develop and train staff to deliver a whole-school approach to managing behaviour, including adaptations with a view to addressing challenging behaviour, disengagement, withdrawal and bullying.

It also suggests schools could introduce a framework for understanding pupil, family and staff belonging, such as through anonymous surveys.

And it says funding could be used to support the implementation of attendance interventions that consider the needs of pupils with SEND.

Creating inclusive environments

The DfE says that the removal of all barriers to learning is key to creating an inclusive environment.

It says that classrooms should be designed to support learning, minimise distraction and meet a range of sensory and regulatory needs.

It adds: “All spaces in school should be designed to be accessible to aid learning, development and regulation, in a way that supports a range of common and predictable needs”.

The guide says this could include creating visual supports, such as timetables and communication aids, or improving classrooms, corridors and other high-traffic spaces to meet a range of sensory needs, such as improving acoustics, lighting, temperature and removing visual clutter and distractions.

The Association of School and College Leaders has criticised the Inclusive Mainstream Fund as “clearly not adequate to deliver the scale of change that is envisaged”.