EHCPs Are Changing: What the 2026 SEND White Paper Actually Proposes — and What It Means for Your Child Right Now
The Schools White Paper proposes the biggest SEND shake-up in a decade: EHCPs reserved for the most complex needs, new Individual Support Plans, and 'inclusion bases' in mainstream schools. Here's what is proposed, what is law, and what parents should do today.
What you need to know first
- These are PROPOSALS, not law. Nothing about your child's current EHCP or rights changes today.
- The white paper ('Every Child Achieving and Thriving', February 2026) and the SEND consultation propose reserving EHCPs for children with the most complex needs. The government expects the number of children needing an EHCP to rise more slowly and then return to around today's level by 2035.
- Most children currently on EHCPs would instead have a new Individual Support Plan (ISP) delivered in mainstream school, backed by new 'inclusion bases'.
- Implementation is proposed to phase in from around 2030. The consultation already proposes no change to the support received through EHCPs before at least September 2030, that a child with an EHCP keeps it until they finish their current phase of education (unless they choose to move sooner), and that no child will be asked to leave a special school.
- The public consultation closed in May 2026; the government's response and draft legislation come next.
- Your rights under the Children and Families Act 2014 — to request an EHC needs assessment, to appeal, to name a school — are all still in force.
If you parent a child with special educational needs, you've probably seen alarming headlines about EHCPs being 'scrapped'. The reality is more specific — and further away — than the headlines suggest. This is what the white paper actually proposes, what's genuinely worrying campaigners, and what you should (and shouldn't) do about it now.
What the white paper proposes
The February 2026 Schools White Paper sets out a tiered vision for SEND support in England:
- EHCPs become a specialist instrument — legally-backed plans reserved for children with the most complex needs, typically those needing specialist placements. The government expects EHCP numbers to keep rising, more slowly, until 2029/30 and then to return to around today's level by 2035, with many more children supported through Individual Support Plans instead.
- Individual Support Plans (ISPs) — a new, lighter-weight plan for the much larger group of children whose needs are met in mainstream schools, intended to be quicker to obtain than the current EHC needs assessment process.
- Inclusion bases — specialist provision embedded inside mainstream schools, expanding the resourced-provision model many schools already run.
- Money attached: three-year totals of £1.6 billion for an Inclusive Mainstream Fund (from 2026-27), £1.8 billion for specialist 'Experts at Hand' support, and over £200 million for SEND training for staff in early years settings, schools and colleges.
What campaigners are worried about
The central concern is legal force. An EHCP is enforceable: it names provision your child must receive, and you can appeal to a tribunal when it isn't delivered. Whether ISPs will carry comparable enforceable rights is the open question of this reform, and charities pressed it hard in the consultation. The government says the response to consultation will set out the rights framework. Until draft legislation appears, both the hopes and the fears are provisional.
Don't act on rumours
What actually applies today
Now vs proposed
| Today (in force) | White paper proposal (from ~2030) | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal plan | EHCP under the Children & Families Act 2014 | EHCP (complex needs only) or ISP (most children) |
| Who qualifies for an EHCP | Any child whose needs cannot be met through SEN support | Children with the most complex needs, typically specialist placements |
| Where support happens | Mainstream, resourced provision, or special school | Mainstream-first, with inclusion bases; special schools for complex needs |
| Appeal rights | SEND Tribunal for assessment, content and placement | Kept: families could still appeal to the Tribunal, including on refusals to assess, whether a child qualifies for an EHCP, and placement (though the Tribunal would no longer name the school itself) |
Today (in force)
- Legal plan
- EHCP under the Children & Families Act 2014
- Who qualifies for an EHCP
- Any child whose needs cannot be met through SEN support
- Where support happens
- Mainstream, resourced provision, or special school
- Appeal rights
- SEND Tribunal for assessment, content and placement
White paper proposal (from ~2030)
- Legal plan
- EHCP (complex needs only) or ISP (most children)
- Who qualifies for an EHCP
- Children with the most complex needs, typically specialist placements
- Where support happens
- Mainstream-first, with inclusion bases; special schools for complex needs
- Appeal rights
- Kept: families could still appeal to the Tribunal, including on refusals to assess, whether a child qualifies for an EHCP, and placement (though the Tribunal would no longer name the school itself)
What to do now
A calm checklist for SEND families
The timeline from here
Where things stand (updated 22 September 2026): the consultation ('SEND reform: putting children and young people first') closed on 18 May 2026, and the government has not yet published its response. An Education for All Bill was announced in the May 2026 King's Speech, but as of the House of Commons Library's briefing of 1 September 2026 (CBP-10550) no date had been set for its introduction. Until new legislation takes effect, the current system and your rights under it stay in place.
The consultation already sets out how existing plans would be protected. New legislation is not expected to take effect before September 2029, and there would be no change to the support received through EHCPs before at least September 2030. A child with an EHCP in a mainstream setting would keep it, and the provision in it, until they finish their current phase of education (primary, secondary or post-16) or choose to move to the new system sooner; a child with an EHCP in the early years would keep theirs until the end of primary school. No child would be asked to leave a special school. These are still proposals and could change after the consultation response. In other words: this is a direction of travel, not this year's admissions cycle. We'll update our SEND guides at each concrete step.
Correction, 22 September 2026: an earlier version of this article said the government aimed to roughly halve EHCP numbers, gave three-year funding totals as 2026-27 figures, and said transition arrangements and appeal rights were still to be decided. We have corrected these points against the consultation document.
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