Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has confirmed that children with the most complex special educational needs and disabilities (Send) will retain their education, health and care plans (EHCPs) under sweeping reforms to the system in England. Speaking at a school in the East Midlands, Phillipson said: 'Forget the misinformation you might have heard. EHCPs for children with the most complex needs will stay, guided by nationally defined and evidence-based specialist provision packages.'
The Department for Education (DfE) projects that the proportion of pupils with EHCPs will begin to fall from 2030, dropping from 5.8% currently to around 4.7% by 2034/35. Around one in eight children with current EHCPs will transition to new support plans between 2030 and 2035 when their needs are reviewed. The reforms, backed by £4 billion funding and detailed in the Schools White Paper published on Monday, aim to create a more inclusive Send system.
Under the new system, children with the most complex needs will still have EHCPs, underpinning new specialist provision packages. For other children, new individual support plans (ISPs) with multiple tiers of support will be introduced, without requiring a diagnosis. Assessments for the new system will begin in September 2029, with no changes to current support before at least September 2030. Children in year three or above will keep their EHCP until at least age 16; those in year two or below will be reassessed when they transition to year seven.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged that the current system 'does not work', with parents facing long waits for support and demand for EHCPs more than doubling since 2014. The reforms include a fast-track route for under-fives with the most complex needs and a commitment that no child with a special school place when the reforms start in 2029 will lose it. Ofsted will monitor schools' implementation of ISPs, and parents will still be able to appeal to a tribunal about an EHCP.
