Government expenditure on educating children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) in England is on track to double between 2015 and 2028, according to a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). This dramatic increase is placing significant pressure on mainstream school budgets, with experts warning that the system is failing to deliver adequate support for those who need it most.
Funding Crisis and Stark Choices
The IFS report highlights that the rising costs of Send provision have reached a critical juncture, describing it as "crunch time" for policymakers. Luke Sibieta, one of the report's authors, emphasised that the current system is becoming increasingly costly while simultaneously failing to meet the needs of children, families, schools, and local authorities.
Sibieta stated: "The most important education issue facing the government is the growing dysfunction in the special educational needs system. We have now reached crunch time. In the near term, ministers face a stark set of choices: slow the growth of Send spending, accept an ongoing squeeze on mainstream school funding, or inject additional resources into education through higher taxes or reductions elsewhere."
Impact on Mainstream Education
The report warns that the escalating Send expenditure "risks crowding out resources for mainstream schools and constraining the system's ability to deliver a broad, balanced and high-quality education for all." This financial pressure has already led to councils redirecting approximately £150 million from mainstream school budgets to support Send services last year alone.
Bill Revans, the County Councils Network's Send spokesperson, noted: "Faced with exponential rises in demand and costs, councils have increasingly had to request that money from mainstream schools is diverted to prop up Send services. This is why national Send spend per person has risen at double the rate of mainstream pupils."
Proposed Solutions and Government Response
One potential solution identified in the report involves capitalising on falling school rolls to redirect £1.8 billion toward special needs funding by 2028. This comes as the government prepares to release a schools white paper next month, expected to outline plans for expanding special needs provision within mainstream state schools.
The white paper will likely emphasise the use of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – legal agreements between families and local authorities that specify support for children with special needs. However, the IFS suggests that reducing EHCP usage or limiting their scope "would likely be needed to meaningfully slow high-needs spending growth," though any savings "would be slow to materialise."
Call for Meaningful Reform
Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, stressed: "Aside from the financial considerations, it is more important still that the planned Send reforms deliver real improvements for families. While there is fantastic work going on in many schools and colleges to support young people with Send, the system as a whole is not meeting the current level of need in the way it should."
A Department for Education spokesperson responded: "We are laying the groundwork for an inclusive education system where children are supported at the earliest stage and can thrive in their local school. That means investing £200m to train all teachers on Send and at least £3bn to create 50,000 new specialist places. We are backing schools with record investment – funding is increasing by £4.2bn by 2028-29 compared to the 2025-26 core schools budget, taking per pupil funding to its highest ever level and helping transform the Send system."
The IFS analysis reveals that despite increased spending, the support required by families, schools, and local authorities continues to outpace available resources. With the white paper imminent, education stakeholders await concrete proposals that address both the financial pressures and the quality of provision for children with special educational needs across England.
