SEND and AP improvement plan: summary

Dig into the SEND and alternative provision (AP) improvement plan details. Understand how the government intends to reform the SEND and AP system, see what’s being done and get an idea of timelines.

Last reviewed on 27 February 2024
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 46228
Contents
  1. New national standards for SEND and AP
  2. Local SEND and AP partnerships
  3. Reformed AP based on a 3-tier model and funding stability
  4. Digital EHC plans
  5. Upskilling the workforce
  6. Increased accountability
  7. Funding commitments to stabilise the system and increase capacity

The SEND and AP improvement plan sets out the government's plan to reform its approach to special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP). The overarching aim is to pull the 2 systems together to create a sustainable, easy-to-navigate single system that meets the needs of all concerned.

On 2 March 2023, the government published its improvement plan, The SEND and AP Improvement Plan - Right Support, Right Place, Right Time. We'll refer to it as ‘the plan’ throughout this article.

The government has set out timelines for the proposed actions in this roadmap published by the DfE. We’ll examine what’s been done and what’s still to come.

This is not an exhaustive list of all the policy proposals in the plan

We’ve chosen to focus on the issues that we feel will most directly impact you. For full details see the DfE's policy paper.

Reforms managed by the national board