The Government have proposed plans to reform the special educational needs and disability system in England and Wales to ensure all SEND children receive Individual Support Plans and introduce new tiered support levels.
What are Education, Health and Care Plans?
Education, health and care plans, or EHCPs, are legally binding documents which outline the additional needs of children and young people, up to the age of 25, who require extra support for special educational needs (SEND) than is available through the typical schooling system.
The government announced on 23 February 2026 that they are amending the legislation around special educational needs to shift the focus from EHCPs to “Individual Support Plans”, with EHCPs reserved for those with complex needs.
Anyone that already holds an EHCP, will keep their plan until they finish their current stage of education. In particular, primary school students will only keep their current EHCPs until secondary school, at which point they will be reassessed under the new system.
Introduction of Individual Support Plans
Individual Support Plans, or ISPs, are to be introduced under the new plan proposed.
Whereas EHCPs are applied for by the parent, schools and other educational setting will be required to create ISPs for every child or young person with identified SEND needs and will be created collaboratively with parents. For separated parents, clear communication and cooperative involvement in the creation and annual review of ISPs will be crucial.
Schools will be required to assess ISPs on a yearly basis, to ensure the correct measures are in place for each student.
The purpose of the plans is to set out a clear guide to remove barriers to learning, day-to-day provisions, reasonable adjustments and intended outcomes.
New Support Levels
As explained, the new system will mean that all children and young people with SEND will have an ISP. The ISP will determine what level of support they will receive, which is divided into three tiers:
- “Targeted” support – this support provides structured interventions, including small-group work and/or personalised materials on a case-by-case basis. For example, providing students with dyslexia with different coloured paper
- “Targeted – Plus” support – this is a higher-level support, which provides support through experts such as speech and language therapists and could include access to ‘Inclusions Bases’ which will combine mainstream curriculum alongside bespoke specialist teaching and support
- “Specialist” support – this is for children and young people with the most complex needs. If an ISP identifies a child’s needs as requiring specialist support, they will be given “specialist provision packages” which will be created by education, health and care experts and will be the only level entitled to the old EHCP.
The intention is that the yearly reviews will allow children and young people to move up and down the tiers of support as and when needed, to free up resources for those that need it most, whilst ensuring every child with special educational needs are supported at the appropriate level.
The new system is due to come into force in September 2029.
