Schools in England to receive £400m inclusion fund after SEND reform proposals

Mainstream schools in England must publish an inclusion strategy by 31 December 2026, as the DfE funds early support and inclusive practice without diagnosis or statutory process. The DfE says the inclusive mainstream fund will support mainstream schools in England to strengthen inclusive practice and early support The Department for Education has set out how mainstream state-funded schools in England will receive funding from the new inclusive mainstream fund, following recent SEND reform proposals that have put mainstream inclusion, early support and Education, Health and Care Plan changes under scrutiny. The fund will allocate £400 million per year to schools as part of a wider package worth more than £500 million per year. It is intended to support primary, secondary, middle and all-through mainstream providers working with pupils aged five to 16. The DfE says the funding will help schools move toward practice that is “inclusive by design,” providing earlier support directly to children without the need for diagnosis or statutory process. The grant follows the government’s 2026 SEND reform consultation, SEND reform: putting children and young people first , which says the current system is failing to deliver mainstream inclusion for the one in three children who have SEN at some point in their schooling. The government has described the wider reform package as a “radical expansion” of rights for children with SEND. The proposals have been controversial, with school leaders, councils, families and SEND organizations raising questions about funding, staffing, accountability, parental appeal rights and whether mainstream schools can deliver more support without creating new pressures elsewhere in the system. Grant follows contested SEND reform plans The inclusive mainstream fund sits alongside the government’s wider SEND reform proposals, which aim to move more support into mainstream settings and reduce reliance on diagnosis-led or statutory processes. The DfE has said Education, Health and Care Plans will remain for children who need more support than is routinely available in mainstream schools, while planned changes include digital EHCPs and a more consistent approach to support. The reform agenda has drawn criticism from parts of the education and SEND sector. The Association of School and College Leaders has warned that high-stakes attainment measures could work against inclusion unless accountability, funding, staffing and training are aligned with the policy direction. Local government analysis has also pointed to implementation questions around roles, responsibilities, funding and specialist capacity as councils and schools are expected to deliver more inclusive provision. Against that backdrop, the inclusive mainstream fund gives schools a dedicated grant for 2026 to 2027, but the DfE says it should sit alongside core funding, including schools’ notional SEN budgets, rather than be treated as the only source of money for inclusion. How the funding will be allocated The inclusive mainstream fund will cover mainstream maintained schools, academies, free schools and city technology colleges for pupils aged five to 16. Separate methodology applies to 16 to 19 providers and early years settings. Funding rates are based on factors used in the schools national funding formula. Each school will receive a £3,000 lump sum, with additional per-pupil funding and extra funding for pupils recorded as having low prior attainment. Primary schools will receive £16 per pupil, including reception pupils, and £79 for each eligible pupil recorded as having low prior attainment. Secondary schools will receive £14 per pupil up to age 16 and £88 for each eligible low prior attainment pupil. Middle and all-through schools will be funded at the relevant rate according to pupil age. The DfE will apply an area cost adjustment to reflect geographic differences in labor costs. Final allocations will use pupil counts from the October 2025 census and low prior attainment proportions from the 2025 to 2026 authority proforma tool. Schools will receive one payment for the 2026 to 2027 financial year. New and growing mainstream schools will have allocations confirmed in February 2027, with payments made in March 2027. Schools must publish inclusion strategies The DfE says schools must develop and publish an inclusion strategy showing how they will use their overall school funding allocation to identify and meet pupil needs and embed inclusive practice. The strategy must report the commonly occurring and predictable needs within a school’s cohort, the barriers to learning faced by pupils with additional needs, how inclusion funding is already being spent, and planned investment against seven areas of inclusion. Those seven areas cover leadership and governance, early intervention, high-quality teaching, provision beyond the classroom, safe and respectful school culture, partnerships with families and wider services, and accessible learning environments. The inclusion strategy must be published on the school website each academic year, made accessible to parents, refined through scrutiny by governors and trustees, and available to Ofsted inspectors when evaluating inclusion. The DfE says further guidance on inclusion strategies, including a template, will follow. Schools must publish their first inclusion strategy statement by 31 December 2026.