When the SEND White Paper landed in February, we shared our first response — a sober read of what the policy was actually saying beneath the headlines. Two months on, the conversation in schools has moved from reaction to reality. The consultation closes 18 May 2026, and SENCOs are now the people best placed to shape what this reform looks like in practice. Here's where things stand ...
Q: What has changed since the White Paper was published?
The White Paper — Every Child Achieving and Thriving — set out the government's decade-long ambition. What's hardened since February is the implementation detail. The consultation document, published alongside it, asks 39 specific questions about how the reforms should work: from whether the 8-week Individual Support Plan turnaround is achievable, to how the SENCO role should evolve, to what makes a high-quality ISP. These are not rhetorical questions. The DfE is actively seeking practitioner input to shape the final framework.
Meanwhile, the new Ofsted inclusion judgement — introduced in November 2025 — is already in play. Schools are being inspected against it now, before the wider reform structure is even legislated. That combination of live inspection pressure and incoming structural change is the reality SENCOs are navigating daily.
Q: What is the sector actually saying about it?
The honest picture is mixed. There is broad agreement on the diagnosis: the EHCP system is adversarial, slow, and no longer fit for scale. Over a million children with additional needs currently have no legally enforceable rights. Tribunal appeals hit record levels in 2024-25, with over 90% decided in favour of families — not a sign of a functional system.
Where opinion divides is on the solution. The shift from EHCPs to Individual Support Plans removes the legal lever that many families have relied on as their only reliable route to provision. The White Paper assumes a system capable of delivering consistently without that lever. Whether that system exists — or can be built — is the question the sector is pressing hard on. SENCOs are being asked to deliver more inclusion with more documentation and more accountability, at a moment when 74% of them are already being pulled from their core role by administrative tasks.
Q: What are Individual Support Plans and when do they become mandatory?
ISPs replace EHCPs for children who do not meet the Specialist threshold under the new four-tier model: Universal, Targeted, Targeted Plus, and Specialist. They are designed to be co-produced with families, practically focused, reviewed regularly, and stored in a standardised digital format. The DfE has proposed an 8-week turnaround — significantly faster than current EHCP timelines, which have routinely exceeded the statutory 20-week limit.
Digital ISPs become mandatory from 2027. The consultation is asking schools now what that digital format needs to contain, and whether the 8-week timeline is realistic. These are questions SENCOs are best placed to answer — and the consultation is the mechanism for doing so.
Q: What is the new SENCO role expected to look like?
The White Paper describes a more strategic, leadership-facing SENCO: leading whole-school SEND training, managing the new support tier structures, overseeing ISPs, and publishing an annual Inclusion Strategy replacing the current SEN Information Report. The consultation asks directly: how should the SENCO role evolve to better meet the needs of children and young people with SEND?
The tension is real. A more strategic role is only possible if the administrative burden reduces. The White Paper acknowledges this — but doesn't yet fully resolve it. All-staff SEND training becomes an expectation from September 2026, which in theory spreads the load. In practice, SENCOs know what happens when policy meets a Monday morning.
Q: What about the Ofsted inclusion judgement — is that already affecting schools?
Yes, and it matters now regardless of where the wider consultation lands. From November 2025, Ofsted grades inclusion as a standalone area. Schools cannot achieve a strong overall outcome if their SEND provision is inadequate. Inspectors want to see consistent adaptation across subjects and year groups, robust progress tracking, and evidence that the SENCO has genuine leadership authority — not just responsibility without resource.
For many SENCOs, this is the most immediate pressure point. The White Paper's ten-year horizon is abstract. An Ofsted inspection next term is not.
Q: Should SENCOs respond to the consultation?
Yes — and urgently. The consultation closes 18 May 2026. The DfE is asking 39 questions, but there is no requirement to answer all of them. SENCOs with direct experience of EHCP delays, ISP practicalities, workload pressures and what inclusion actually costs on the ground are exactly the voices this consultation needs. The questions most directly relevant to SENCO practice include:
· Q13: What practical actions can help schools manage workload while implementing these changes?
· Q14: How should the SENCO role evolve to better meet the needs of children and young people with SEND?
· Q15: What would provide assurance for families that an ISP is high-quality?
· Q16: How can ISPs be made clear, concise and practical for professionals to use?
The government's consultation page is at gov.uk. Time is short — the sector's voice matters most right now, before the framework is finalised.
Q: What practical steps can schools take to prepare for ISPs?
Whatever the final shape of the legislation, the direction is clear: schools will be managing more SEND documentation digitally, co-produced with families, and linked to individual pupil evidence. Schools that already capture teaching evidence systematically, track progress against personalised frameworks, and share outcomes with parents regularly are well ahead of where the system is heading.
For schools still relying on spreadsheets or paper-based records, now is the time to review. The 2027 digital ISP mandate gives a concrete deadline — but the Ofsted inclusion judgement means the quality of evidence behind SEND provision is already under scrutiny.
Q: How does Earwig Academic fit into this picture?
Earwig was built for exactly the workflows the new framework will formalise. Evidence captured at the point of teaching, linked to individual pupil frameworks, reviewable at any point. AI-assisted report drafting that brings ISP-style documentation from hours to minutes — with the professional reviewing and approving every word. Secure parent sharing built into the core workflow, not bolted on. And one-click analytics that give SENCOs a live picture of provision across the school, ready for Ofsted or annual review without a separate preparation exercise.
Schools using Earwig now are building the habits, evidence trails and parent relationships that the reformed system will require. That is not a coincidence — it is what good SEND practice has always looked like. The White Paper is catching up with it.
Earwig's original White Paper response (February 2026)
DfE SEND consultation (closes 18 May 2026)