Government publishes education white paper

Policy document sets out the government’s vision for schools and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

At the end of February, the government published its long-awaited white paper for schools and SEND entitled ‘every child achieving and thriving’. The government states that it aims to improve the lives of all children and young people in three keys ways:

• by shifting children’s school experiences from narrow to broad;

• ensuring those who have been sidelined are included; and

• taking children and communities from withdrawn to engaging with schools.

To assist with these aims, the government intends to recruit an additional 6,500 teachers by the end of the current Parliament. There is more information about the government’s schools and SEND white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving.

In the next sections of this article, we examine some of the key proposals of the white paper.

Collaboration and groups of schools

The government states that its ambition is for every school to be part of a trust. The white paper introduces the new concept of local authority-run trusts to sit alongside existing academy trusts. The DfE’s most recent data (as of March 2026) states that 44.9% of all schools in England are local authority maintained schools so there remains a significant number still to be converted into academies.

The white paper also doesn’t specify how large trusts should be or if there is a preferred or optimum figure. As per the DfE’s data, 29.5% of academies are within trusts of between 11 and 20 schools which is the highest percentage, accounting for 3,508 schools. There are currently 938 single academy trusts and the expectation appears to be that they will partner with other trusts to foster further collaboration.

However, the white paper does not provide an alternative to the academy conversion grant of £25,000 which was abolished in December 2024 so it is currently unclear who will cover the cost of converting schools and bringing them into trusts and whether this will disincentive schools from undertaking the conversion process. Given the number of schools still to convert, this is unlikely to be a quick process in any case.

SEND reforms

The SEND reforms included in the white paper have generated the most comment and media coverage. The government proposes to increase the provision of SEND support in mainstream schools by pledging £4 billion over three years to assist with this, however, set against the increasing costs of supporting SEND pupils in recent years, it remains to be seen if this will be sufficient.

The white paper also proposes to change the criteria for a child to receive an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and the appeals process. This may help manage costs over the longer-term but may also lead to an increase in parents trying to secure an EHCP before the new criteria are fully introduced for the 2028/2029 academic year. This in turn may impact the number of SEND Tribunal appeals which the Ministry of Justice recently reported as being at their highest ever levels.

As a further cost saving measure, the white paper suggests that the government prefers including SEND units on existing mainstream sites, rather than providing or building specialist SEND facilities.

Parental complaints

The white paper recognises that work is required on the home-school relationship and commits to establishing minimum standards and agreed mutual expectations for the home-school partnership. It also aims to regularise requirements across both maintained schools and academies in this regard. This framework is currently only advisory and doesn’t include the introduction of requirements (such as a formal written agreement governing the home-school relationship) that are fully legally enforceable. Given the continued rise in parental complaints, it therefore remains to be seen how effective this approach will be in redefining the home-school relationship.

The white paper aims to simplify the complaints process by introducing a digital portal for managing complaints which should improve coordination and communication between different parties and avoid duplication and unnecessary time delays.

Next steps

A 12-week consultation period is currently ongoing seeking feedback on the white paper’s proposals for SEND reform. Once the consultation completes, the government will draft legislation to be put before parliament ahead of bring the proposals into law.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this article further, please contact our Education team on 0113 244 6100.

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