In this brand new article for Forum Strategy’s networks and Being The CEO programme members, Forum Strategy Associate, Natalie Packer, reflects on some of the key implications of SEND reform announcements in recent weeks.
Over the past fortnight, the DfE has sent one of its clearest signals yet about the future direction of the education system. The ambition is no longer simply to improve SEND provision; it is to create a system in which mainstream schools are significantly better equipped to meet the needs of all learners. Specialist provision will always have an essential role, but the expectation is increasingly that inclusive mainstream practice becomes the norm rather than the exception.
The plethora of recent DfE publications on best practice in using the inclusive mainstream fund, developing an inclusion strategy, inclusion bases in schools and inclusive education estates, along with the first RISE regional plans, together reveal a coherent blueprint for how government expects schools and trusts to develop inclusive education over the coming years.
Schools are being asked to build stronger universal provision, use funding to remove barriers to learning and participation, and publish an inclusion strategy by 31 December 2026. For trust leaders, this represents perhaps the biggest strategic change in SEND since the 2014 reforms; inclusion is becoming one of the defining features of trust improvement and needs to be designed, led, quality assured and governed at trust level.
The big takeaways
A whole-trust approach
The first major takeaway is that inclusion is being repositioned as everyone’s business. The DfE’s guidance says schools should use the inclusive mainstream fund (IMF) alongside core funding and notional SEN budgets to strengthen universal provision and provide earlier, evidence-based targeted support. Importantly, the fund is not attached to individual pupils; it is intended to help settings become more inclusive by design.
The universal offer will underpin inclusive practice, with high quality, inclusive teaching and learning playing a key role. The recent EEF Guide to Inclusive Teaching supports the link between inclusive strategy and practice in the classroom. Through identifying core classroom practices that benefit all pupils while having particular importance for those with additional needs, the guidance provides a robust evidence base for the universal offer, shifts the conversation away from interventions, and reinforces that inclusion is everyone’s responsibility.
For trust leaders supporting schools to spend their IMF wisely, a key question will be: If the IMF is intended to build inclusive capacity through a strong universal offer, how will today’s investment leave every school more capable of meeting tomorrow’s needs?
The inclusion strategy – a catalyst for improvement:
The second takeaway is that inclusion strategies are going to matter. The guidance makes it clear that an Inclusion Strategy should not simply describe existing SEND provision. Instead, it should set out how the school will create a more inclusive learning environment for all pupils by strengthening its universal offer, identifying and removing barriers to learning, investing in workforce development and using evidence-informed approaches to improve outcomes. It should explain how funding is being used, how success will be measured and how pupils, families and staff will be involved in shaping provision.
Each school, including each academy within a MAT, must publish its own strategy, and trustees are expected to scrutinise plans, spending and outcomes. Ofsted will also consider inclusion strategies when evaluating inclusion. This makes the strategy much more than a website document: it becomes a public statement of intent, resource use and accountability.
For MATs, this raises an important question: should every academy write its own disconnected strategy, or should trusts create one coherent inclusion strategy which can then be adapted to allow for interpretation at an individual school level? The latter feels considerably more powerful.
Consistency of practice:
The third takeaway is that the DfE is trying to define what “good” looks like. The seven principles of inclusion introduced through the SEND reforms provide a useful lens for leaders to consider the aspects of their inclusion strategy, and their practice:
- Ambitious leadership and governance
- Early, evidence-based support
- High quality teaching and curriculum
- Accessible and enriching provision beyond the classroom
- Safe and respectful culture
- Strong partnerships with families and wider services
- Inclusive environments and accessibility
These principles provide trust leaders with a useful framework, but they also raise the bar. Inclusion will increasingly be judged through culture, curriculum, teaching, participation and outcomes. These are not simply about SEND interventions; they are characteristics of effective schools.
Inclusion bases as one part of the solution:
The fourth takeaway is the emphasis on inclusion bases. The new guidance is helpful because it establishes a clear philosophy; inclusion bases should strengthen mainstream inclusion rather than replace it. A strong universal offer should be a pre-requisite to building inclusion bases. Children should belong to the whole school, maintain ambitious curriculum pathways and participate meaningfully alongside their mainstream peers wherever appropriate.
Six key principles are highlighted in the guidance that underpin effective inclusion bases:
- Supporting inclusion in the school or local area
- High-quality curriculum design
- Effective data, assessment and outcomes
- Effective workforce and leadership
- Effective partnership working
- Inclusive and accessible physical environments
For some trusts the guidance will validate existing practice. For others it may prompt a rethink about whether bases are unintentionally serving to fragment rather than strengthen inclusion.
Implementation challenges
Will all of this work? Potentially, yes — but only if trusts treat this as a system-design opportunity rather than a compliance task.
A strong aspect of the guidance is that it moves the conversation away from reactive SEND support and towards proactive inclusive provision. The focus on early help, adaptive teaching and removing barriers is the right direction. So is the expectation that governors and trustees scrutinise strategy and impact.
However, there are potential challenges.
The first challenge is that inclusion strategies become another version of pupil premium statements: technically compliant, but not transformational. A weak strategy will list interventions. A strong strategy will explain how the trust is improving the daily experience of pupils in classrooms.
The second challenge is capacity. The guidance assumes schools can strengthen universal provision, deliver targeted support and evaluate impact. Workforce capability may not yet match expectations. Some schools will need significant leadership, staff development and specialist support to do this well.
The third challenge is that inclusion bases are seen as the solution to inclusion. They are not. A strong whole-school universal offer should come first. Bases should enhance mainstream inclusion, not compensate for weak classroom practice.
The fourth challenge is uneven implementation across MATs. Although each academy must publish its own strategy, trusts should avoid disconnected approaches. The opportunity is to create a shared trust-wide inclusion framework, with local adaptation, and strong quality assurance frameworks.
Embedding culture change
Throughout the original proposals, and now at the start of the implementation of the SEND Reforms, there remains an uncomfortable tension between ambition and resource. £400 million through the inclusive mainstream fund is significant investment. Yet no funding formula, however generous, changes culture on its own; leadership does. The strongest trusts will use the funding to accelerate or embed a change in culture and establish:
- A trust-wide definition of inclusion that applies to every academy
- Leadership teams treating inclusion as a core school improvement priority
- Deliberate investment in developing every member of staff in every academy
- Quality assurance frameworks that evaluate belonging, participation and adaptive teaching alongside attainment and progress
- Inclusion bases operating as integral centres of expertise rather than separate provisions
- Trust dashboards that monitor attendance, exclusion, participation and pupil experience alongside statutory SEND indicators
- Capacity building through collaboration, networks and partnerships, facilitated where appropriate through regional RISE plans.
What should academy trust leaders do now?
- Agree a trust-wide definition of inclusion that describes what excellent inclusive practice looks like across every academy and what pupils, families and staff should experience in every academy.
- Map current provision across the trust against the seven principles of inclusive practice. Identify where strengths lie and the key priorities for development.
- Plan to invest time and resources over the next three years in developing workforce capacity, including time for delivering the mandatory SEND training.
- Consider your specialist provision strategy. If your trust operates, or is planning to develop, inclusion bases, ensure they function as centres of expertise that strengthen mainstream practice rather than as separate systems.
- Review your trust quality assurance model. Does it evaluate adaptive teaching, belonging, participation and inclusive culture as well as SEND processes?
- Build inclusion into trust improvement processes, including reviews, dashboards, headteacher appraisal, board reports and school improvement visits.
- Start writing your trust inclusion strategy to identify barriers, actions, funding and evaluation measures. Support schools to interpret the strategy and adapt for their own context.
Inclusion by design
Through its flurry of recent publications, the DfE has published the first operational blueprint for what the future inclusive school system will look like. The trusts that thrive within the new system will not simply ask, “How do we comply with the new guidance?” Instead, they will ask, “What would it take for every school in our trust to become genuinely inclusive by design?”
Natalie Packer is a Forum Strategy Associate. To find out more about our SEND Strategy support, led by Natalie, please email us at admin@forumstrategy.org
You can read Natalie’s previous article, reflecting on the headlines of the white paper, and 7 key questions for trust leaders around SEND reform, here: SEND Reforms: 7 Big Questions for Trust Leaders to Consider
