Why now · A sector in transformation

638,700 children. £5.6bn deficits. And no tools built for the people delivering the support.

SEND in England is being restructured by government — and the schools, families and practitioners doing the work are still running it on paper, PDFs and goodwill.

The pressure

A system that cannot absorb more paperwork.

638,700children with an EHCP — the number has risen every year since 2014
46.4%of new plans issued inside the 20-week legal deadline
£5.6bnaccumulated high-needs deficits across English local authorities

Every one of those numbers lands on the same desks: a SENCO with a teaching load, a family without a map, a local authority team processing requests it cannot keep pace with. The bottleneck isn't commitment — it's administration.

Policy timeline

Government is restructuring SEND.

2014

Children and Families Act — EHCPs replace statements; demand rises every year since.

2023–24

SEND & AP Improvement Plan — national standards, digital-first EHCPs, and a commitment to consistency across all 152 local authorities.

2026

White Paper reforms — Individual Support Plans for every child with SEND across Tiers 1–3, not just EHCP holders. The record-keeping burden multiplies.

Next

Digital mandates follow funding. Schools that already run structured, evidenced SEND records will simply carry on. Everyone else migrates in a hurry.

The opportunity

Be ready before the mandate.

SendConnect360 already authors and tracks ISPs across Tiers 1–3 — the exact structure the 2026 White Paper introduces. Founding schools aren't betting on our roadmap; they're adopting the process the reforms require, early and at a locked-in rate.