the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues
The government’s “generational” reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system will increase the proportion of children in “specialist” placements over the next nine years, despite ministers claiming they are moving towards more “mainstream inclusion”. Bridget Phillipson said […]
The government’s long-awaited reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system are a missed opportunity to dismantle the barriers that continue to drive disabled young people out of mainstream schools, say inclusive education campaigners. The reforms were laid out […]
The government’s decision to publish research that shows the bureaucratic and time-consuming nature of its system of educational support has raised fears that its imminent reforms will harm disabled children and young people. The government released the research just as it […]
A cross-party report by MPs has called for “root and branch transformation” of how disabled children and young people are treated within mainstream schools and colleges, but inclusive education campaigners say its conclusions should have been even bolder. The Commons education […]
Only one in four inspections of local services for disabled children in England last year concluded that they usually lead to “positive experiences and outcomes” for those young people, the education regulator has announced. The findings from Ofsted showed that 28 […]
The right-wing populist party Reform UK has given a rare glimpse of its disability policies, after its leader Nigel Farage suggested he was strongly in favour of cuts to disabled people’s benefits. The party’s supporters have attempted to make political capital […]
An online education provider has been accused of “blatant discrimination” after charging disabled students thousands of pounds more a year than non-disabled students for the same qualifications. The Cambridge-based Online College of Art and Design (OCAD) describes itself as the UK’s […]
Five young disabled people who have been failed by the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system have told MPs that the government and education sector must listen to their voices if they want to fix the barriers they have faced. […]
The most senior civil servant in the Department for Education (DfE) has told MPs that educating disabled pupils in mainstream schools is usually much cheaper and produces “similar or better outcomes” than using special schools. Susan Acland-Hood, DfE’s permanent secretary, told […]
Tens of thousands more disabled children could have their needs met in a mainstream setting rather than a special school, if there were major improvements to the special educational needs (SEN) system, a report published by the government has found. The […]