Fix the SEND System — Or Face a Lost Generation
Posted on:
Nearly one in five pupils in England are now receiving support for special educational needs (SEN).
The latest figures from the Department for Education show more than 1.7 million pupils are receiving additional support — a rise of 5.6% in just one year.
That means 19.6% of all pupils in England now require some form of SEN provision — the highest proportion recorded under the current reporting framework.
Alongside this, SEND tribunals are rising sharply as families challenge the support being offered. Teaching unions are calling for urgent systemic reform. The government has indicated detailed reform proposals will follow in the autumn.
But for communities across Bolton and Greater Manchester, this is not a distant policy debate.
It is already shaping the future of our young people.
The SEND Picture: A Structural Shift, Not a Temporary Spike
The scale of change is significant:
- 1.7 million+ pupils receiving SEN support
- Over 482,000 pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
- EHCP numbers more than doubled since 2016
- Overall SEN support up 44% in less than a decade
An EHCP is a statutory legal document outlining the education, health and care support a child requires.
Analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests the increase is largely driven by:
- Rising identification of autistic spectrum disorder
- Growing speech and language difficulties
- Increased social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs
Autism is now the most common primary need listed on EHCPs. Improved recognition — particularly among girls — and post-pandemic developmental impacts are likely contributing.
However, this is more than better diagnosis.
It reflects a system under sustained and escalating pressure.
What This Means in Bolton and Greater Manchester
Across Bolton and the wider Greater Manchester region, we are seeing:
- Schools managing increasingly complex needs
- Families facing long assessment waiting times
- Growing tribunal challenges
- Escalating local authority SEND deficits
- More young people disengaging from education
When needs are not addressed early, consequences compound:
- Exclusions increase
- Absence becomes persistent
- Mental health deteriorates
- Trust in services erodes
- The risk of becoming NEET rises
SEND cannot be separated from the wider youth worklessness and economic inactivity challenge.
If nearly one in five children require additional support in school, then post-16 systems, apprenticeships, enterprise pathways and employment models must adapt accordingly.
Addressing the Root Cause — Not Just the Symptoms
As Sam Smith, Co-Director of Genuine Futures, has consistently stated:
“You cannot fix the growing NEET problem without getting to the root of the SEND crisis. If children’s needs aren’t understood and supported early, the consequences don’t disappear they escalate. We must provide meaningful activities, practical pathways, and environments where young people can succeed. And we must stop labelling children too early. Labels can last a lifetime and often what we call behaviour is unresolved trauma. Right now, too often, we’re not solving the problem we’re passing it on. It becomes a revolving door from school, to alternative provision, to youth services, to mental health, to employability programmes. The system reacts, moves the young person on, and calls it support. But nothing fundamentally changes.”
This “revolving door” effect is critical.
Schools manage behaviour rather than underlying need.
Alternative provision contains rather than transforms.
Youth services inherit disengagement.
Employability programmes inherit trauma and low confidence.
Each service works hard. But without coordinated early intervention, the same young person circulates through multiple systems.
The issue is displaced — not resolved.
The Tribunal Surge: A Breakdown in Trust
The rise in SEND tribunals signals a deeper issue.
When families feel unheard, they escalate.
When assessments are delayed, they challenge.
When provision is insufficient, they appeal.
Tribunals should be a safeguard of last resort — not a routine gateway to securing support.
Reform must restore collaboration between families, schools and local authorities rather than entrenching conflict.
Funding: The Elephant in the Room
Local authority SEND budgets are under significant strain.
EHCP growth has outpaced funding reform. Schools are managing greater complexity with finite resources.
If reform focuses primarily on cost containment rather than capacity building, more children will slip through.
Meaningful reform requires:
- Realistic funding formulas
- Workforce development
- Speech and language specialist capacity
- Autism-informed mainstream training
- SEMH support embedded within schools
- Stronger post-16 transition planning
Without these structural changes, the statistics will continue to rise — and so will the long-term social cost.
Youth Matters 2026: Prevention, Not Containment
Youth Matters 2026 reframes SEND as a long-term social investment priority.
It calls for:
Early Identification
Speech, language and communication needs must be addressed in early years settings — not once crisis emerges in secondary school.
Integrated Local Hubs
Education, health and social care must operate in coordinated systems to reduce adversarial pathways.
Meaningful Activity and Enterprise Pathways
Young people need structured, confidence-building, practical opportunities — not simply academic compliance.
If nearly one in five pupils require additional support, the entire system must evolve.
A Choice Point
England stands at a decisive moment.
Continue managing crisis —
or redesign the system around early support, integration and long-term outcomes.
Nearly one in five pupils require SEN support.
That statistic should not trigger alarm.
It should trigger reform at scale.
Because these children are not a burden.
They are future contributors — entrepreneurs, skilled tradespeople, digital innovators, community leaders.
But only if we intervene early enough.
Final Reflection
A lost generation is not inevitable.
It is the result of inaction.
The data is clear.
The pressures are visible.
Families are speaking.
If we fix the SEND system now, we prevent future crisis.
If we delay, we will be managing the consequences for decades.
Youth Matters 2026 is clear:
Support early.
Act systemically.
Provide meaningful pathways.
Stop defining children by labels.
Protect potential before it is lost.