SEND inquiry: How professionals want to solve the SEND crisis?
The SEND Inquiry is an investigation by the Education Select Committee into how we can make the SEND system better in the both the short and long term. Also known as Solving the SEND Crisis, it has now released its first wave of written evidence. This article introduces the inquiry is and what professionals are saying so far. The article breaks down evidence into 2 groups:
- School staff
- External professionals
An article on the voices of parents is here, where you can also see the list of MPs who are leading the inquiry.
What is the SEND inquiry about?
A number of reports have reported a crisis in the SEND system. Therefore, the current inquiry focuses on making both short and long term improvements in the system so that experiences and outcomes for children become better.
Who can give evidence to the SEND inquiry?
Anyone. Schools, families, professionals, charities, young people… The call for evidence closes on 6th February 2025.
What are school staff saying to the SEND inquiry?
A fascinating range of school staff have submitted their views. Codes in brackets are the references from the inquiry’s publication list, where you can see the full submissions.
SENCo in independent school (SEN 44)
- SEND teams need more expertise and should be back in the office to reduce some of the problems with decision making.
- Teachers need more SEND expertise – the last big push was 2009.
- There should be ombudsman fines for LAs who break rules.
- EHCPs need to be less onerous and less adversarial.
SENCo in infants (SEN 36)
- If we want more resource provisions in mainstream, there needs to be more training and funding.
- We need to be more special school placements.
- We need more SEND outreach support for mainstream.
- Updated EHCPs need to come back faster from the LA.
Head of Primary (SEN 24)
- The results of EHCP pupils in the overall school score is deeply unfair to children, families, staff and the very ethos of inclusion.
- We need a system that reflects the true achievements of every child, regardless of their starting point.
- Often, I have to explain why our outcomes fall short – this is often a process that is punitive, interrogative and demoralising. It undermines the dedication of staff and the aspirations of our families.
- Until schools are not judged on standardised test scores, the SEND crisis will persist.
CEO of a Mixed Mainstream / Special Academy Trust (SEN 20)
- Ofsted frameworks since 2010 have caused mainstream schools to become less and less inclusive.
- Special schools should be 52 week placements and should all offer outreach.
- Every LA, MAT and Diocesan Trust should be accountable for the representativeness of their student body.
School governor (primary) and volunteer MP caseworker (SEN 18)
- Many pupils with EHCPs travel long distances (to us) because their local mainstream schools say they cannot meet need.
- Being able to attend a local school with siblings and local friends is very important to all children’s social development.
- Attendance at the head teachers’ LA inclusion forum is poor.
- If a school has a resource provision, the results for resource pupils should be published separately to the mainstream-only pupils. If not, there is an unfairness upon schools with resource provision.
Also
- College placements prevent parents from working full time (e.g. because the young person is only in 4 days a week).
SENCo and then specialist setting (SEN 17)
- Get rid or support Local Authorities, but don’t leave them in limbo.
- SENCos need better training on working with parents and this isn’t currently in the NASENCo award.
- Get the curriculum nailed and you won’t have as many pupils needing SEND support.
Senior leader (Special School) (SEN 13)
- Review all safety valve contracts.
- Take note of the lack of capacity of the tribunal service and LAs to provide evidence – in the context of the rising proportion of parental success in tribunals.
- Consider reviewing the SEND Code of Practice.
School leader or teacher (SEN 11)
- SEN fraud is an issue (example given re £65,000 EOTAS request for a child who stays up all night gaming).
- Too many ‘SEN specialists/warriors’ are fuelling parents who are playing the game.
- LAs need to better hold independent schools to account for their educational quality, staff training and their fees.
- Ofsted should check that qualified teachers are teaching our pupils with SEND who are in independent schools.
Head of Primary (SEN 07)
- EHCP funding needs to actually match the cost of education for that child.
- There is an ongoing tension between early parenting challenges and identifying genuine SEND needs. Greater early parenting support might address some issues but is not always readily available.
SENCo in primary (SEN 03)
- Change starts with SENCos.
- Elevate all SENCO onto Senior Leadership and the pay band that this entails – an equal level to Assistant/Deputy Heads.
- Have SEND departments, with admin assistants if necessary to support the SENCO. (there is huge inconsistency).
Deputy Head of Junior School (SEN 02)
- Tighten up diagnosis process so that its accurate in order to reduce numbers.
- Mentor or greater support for new SENCOs (too many leave within two years).
- SENCOs on Senior Leadership Teams of schools so have influence.
- Monitor and challenge special schools so that they admit SEND pupils (and don’t leave them in mainstream).
What are SEND Specialists saying to the SEND inquiry?
Five recurring themes are:
- Money
- Workflow
- Training
- External support
- Accountability.
SEN Manager (SEN 52)
- Funding and training for SEND must be better.
Disability Advocate (SEN 48)
- Waiting times for children’s mental health services are too long.
- It is not uncommon that schools claim funding for specific support hours for a pupil (e.g. 25 hours) but distribute this among other students who lack formal provision.
- Some schools have been found to treat SEND students unfavourably or discourage their enrolment. This skews school performance metrics.
SEN Outreach Teacher (SEN 47)
- TAs pay is a barrier to attracting and retaining staff with experience and skills.
- Only one course in England offers the mandatory Qualified Teacher of Visual Impairment (QTVI) qualification to teach blind and visually impaired children. Many QTVI’s are due to retire in the next 10 years and this is a problem.
SEND Manager (SEN 43)
- Improve workload to improve retention of teachers, SENCos, and early years staff.
- Create national advice templates for professionals to use when writing EHC assessment advice.
- Remove Educational Psychologists from EHC assessments.
- Give LAs the power to hold schools accountable for SEND.
SEN Outreach teacher (SEN 34)
- Ofsted don’t visit enough – Give regional Advisory Teachers powers to enforce reasonable adjustments.
- For more complex pupils, offer existing schools the fees charged by an independent special school (e.g. £60,000) to develop in house solutions.
Flat Stan First Aid (SEN 26)
- Teach CPR to children who have SEND.
Inclusive Solutions UK Ltd (SEN 09)
- SEND needs to be more person centred.
- Develop inclusion teams.
Fit 2 Learn CIC (SEN 05)
- Hearing checks for all pupils (by age 7) and eye checks for all pupils (by age 8).
- Have more PE.
- Screen teachers to ensure that they also have motor-sensory integration and are not unconsciously projecting their processing coping strategies on to pupils.
What do the trade unions say will solve the SEND crisis?
Nothing – but it is still early days. We can expect that some union leaders will make submissions (e.g. ASCL, NASUWT, UNISON). It will be interesting to see how creative they are – they have an opportunity to offer novel solutions given that they have access to hundreds of thousands of school staff and leaders. An excellent submission is also likely to be technical (e.g. pointing out bottlenecks in training for sensory impairment specialists) as well as offering views on funding and training.
Whose voice is missing from the SEND inquiry?
- Children
- Teaching assistants
These are very large omissions and we hope that this changes in the coming weeks.
What is the 9000 Lives response to the SEND inquiry
- SENCo time needs to be focused on pupil outcomes and support and not admin. Examples of how we can free up SENCos to spend more time working directly with pupils and staff:
- Simplify SEN support plans to make them more focused.
- Avoid adding new laws to the SEN support tier.
- Avoid mandating a new EHCP template.
- Stop spending time creating medium term outcomes.
- Regionalise SALT referral forms & processes.
- Produce a DfE guide to how schools should better communicate with SEND parents – especially regarding their SEN information report.
- Increase the £6000 element 2 funding by inflation each year.
- Allow LAs to direct placement of children in care.
- Provide governors, trustees and inspectors with data on how successful a school is in attracting pupils with SEND from within and beyond its own catchment.
The full submission can be found on the inquiry website.
Solving the SEND Crisis: What happens next?
Interested parties have until 30th January 2025 to make their submissions. After this, the next step is oral evidence sessions which allow the committee’s MPs to explore the issues in more detail. Finally, the MPs will publish a Solving the SEND Crisis report for the government to respond to.
Many people see SEND as an urgent issue and, whilst the government response may come in the summer term, it might not arrive until early autumn.
Watch this space.
Need help with SEND in your council, trust or school? If so, get in touch.
BlueSky @9000lives.bsky.social

Get in touch
Have a question? Think we could help you? Please contact us to discuss how we might help you.
Drop us an email or give us a call
director@9000lives.org
0788 42 42 719