In a powerful call for reform, education advocate John Wright has outlined a visionary three-point plan to overhaul the flawed special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) assessment process in the UK. With the current system leaving far too many children without access to vital support, Wright argues that sweeping changes are urgently needed to uphold every child’s legal entitlement to an education tailored to their unique needs.
A Broken System in Desperate Need of Repair
Under the existing SEND framework, local education authorities (LEAs) are tasked with both assessing children’s needs and footing the bill for any additional support required. This glaring conflict of interest has led to widespread “ducking and weaving” as cash-strapped LEAs seek to minimize their legal obligations, leaving vulnerable children to fall through the cracks.
Tinkering with or making sweeping changes to the legal framework will lead to a weakening in children’s entitlement and must be resisted.
– John Wright
Rather than dismantling the hard-fought legal protections for SEND students, Wright contends that the solution lies in a bold redesign of the assessment and funding model. His three-pronged approach aims to eliminate perverse incentives, expand parental rights, and ensure that every child receives the tailored support they need to thrive.
Point 1: Independent Assessment Panels
The first pillar of Wright’s plan calls for the creation of local panels comprised of experienced SEND professionals – including educational psychologists, speech therapists, and specialist teachers – to handle all assessments and education, health and care plan (EHCP) preparation. By removing this critical function from LEA control, the proposal aims to ensure that each child’s needs are evaluated objectively and comprehensively, without regard to budgetary constraints.
Point 2: Parental Right to Second Opinions
To further safeguard against LEA corner-cutting, Wright advocates empowering parents to seek professional second opinions on their child’s assessment and EHCP. This additional layer of oversight would provide a welcome alternative to stressful and costly SEND tribunals, which currently overturn the majority of LEA decisions. By enshrining this right in law, the reform plan aims to level the playing field and give families a stronger voice in securing the support their children deserve.
Point 3: Direct Government Funding for SEND Provision
The final and most transformative element of Wright’s proposal calls for all SEND provision specified in a child’s EHCP to be fully funded by central government. This seismic shift would sever the toxic link between assessment and financial liability, freeing LEAs to focus on identifying and meeting each student’s needs rather than rationing scarce resources. While such a move would require a significant injection of new funding, the long-term benefits – in terms of educational outcomes, social mobility, and economic productivity – would be immeasurable.
As the SEND crisis reaches a breaking point, Wright’s bold blueprint offers a roadmap to a brighter, more equitable future for England’s most vulnerable students. By uniting parents, educators, and advocates behind this call for systemic change, there is hope that policymakers will finally find the political courage to enact the sweeping reforms our children so desperately need and deserve.
The alternative – a continuation of the status quo that robs countless young people of their potential and their dreams – is simply unthinkable. The time for tinkering around the edges has long passed. Only a fundamental overhaul of the SEND assessment and funding model can deliver the lasting change and social justice our society demands.
As Wright powerfully argues, this fight is about more than bureaucratic procedures or bottomlines. It is a moral imperative – a test of our collective commitment to the ideal that every child, regardless of background or ability, has an inalienable right to an excellent and equitable education. In rising to this challenge, we have the opportunity to unleash the talents of a generation and build a future that leaves no child behind.
The road ahead will undoubtedly be long and arduous, strewn with obstacles and entrenched opposition. But for the sake of the millions of children who dream of a better tomorrow, we must summon the resolve to see this fight through to the end. The potential of an entire generation hangs in the balance. We cannot – we must not – fail them now.
