This response to the draft SEND reform: putting children and young people first proposal has been prepared by Philip Wood, Partner, and Hayley O’Sullivan, Principal Associate, in Browne Jacobson’s education team and submitted to the Department for Education for consideration in its public consultation. 

Reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system were published in the 2026 schools white paper, Every child achieving and thriving. 

These aim to standardise early support in mainstream schools, streamline Individual Support Plans, and reserve Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for only the most complex cases. 

Our education team has previously commented briefly on SEND reform and the schools white paper, but this response goes into more detail about specific proposals. 

We have chosen to focus on selected questions aligned with our legal expertise and where we can provide the greatest insights. 

Browne Jacobson’s education practice

Browne Jacobson is a Top 50 UK and Ireland law firm whose commitment to working with clients at the forefront of tackling society's biggest issues is exemplified by our education practice – one of the largest specialist education legal teams in the UK, supporting schools and academies, multi-academy trusts, local authorities, charities, executive agencies, education businesses, higher education institutions and the Department for Education.

We are ranked Band 1 in education law in every region in the Legal 500 and nationally in Chambers and Partners, with The Times placing us among its top three firms for education. Our 100+ specialists (including 50 core education lawyers, 24 HR advisers and 30 supporting professionals) work with a sizeable number of schools and academies, MATs, universities and colleges,  the DfE and corporates supplying the sector. We hold strategic partnerships with CST, NAHT and NGA and are the sole legal strategic partner of ASCL.

We also have a strong government practice, which works with the breadth of public sector organisations including local authorities, central government departments and arm’s length bodies. This gives us a unique vantage point over the wider education sector to support commentary on aspects of the challenges with SEND provision. However, the views expressed in this consultation response are those of the firm, not any specific client. 

Experience in SEND system

We are responding to this consultation as a firm with significant, frontline experience of the SEND system in practice. In 2024/25, we worked on 50+ discrimination claims in the SEND First-Tier Tribunal and more than one-third of all Upper Tier disability discrimination cases in schools over the past two years. 

Acting for so many clients nationally gives us an insight into the challenges that schools face within the SEND framework. It is quite marked that SEND challenges faced in the North East are similar to those in the South West, for example, which enables us to contextualise this bigger picture.

School Leaders Survey

Our spring 2026 School Leaders Survey, conducted in the weeks after the schools white paper was published, captured priorities from leaders representing more than 1,000 schools and over half a million pupils. We included a series of questions related to the SEND reforms and have included some of this data in our responses to this consultation. 

However, to give a broad perspective, there was a mixed picture on the support of those responding to the reforms. More than half (54%) had at least some concerns with the proposals while 25% were supportive, with a reasonable number of respondents (18%) unsure, likely because the white paper sets out a vision in broad terms, but without the full detail yet for schools to understand how all details will work in practice.

We welcome the government's commitment to reforming the SEND system and offer the following responses to the specific questions on which we have chosen to focus. Our responses reflect both our direct legal experience and the practical insights of the school leaders, SENCOs and colleagues who advise government sector clients.