SEND reform: our consultation response

Could SEND reform leave adopted children behind?

The Department for Education’s consultation on proposed SEND reforms in England is now closed. Adoption UK responded in detail, raising issues of particular importance to adopted children and their families.

Our consultation response carried a clear message: the Government’s proposed SEND reforms may not work for adopted children unless their needs are properly recognised from the beginning. Adoption UK supports the idea of improving the SEND system. Earlier help, better mainstream support and clearer routes to specialist provision will sound positive to many families. But we also warned that, unless adopted and previously looked after children are specifically included in the detail, families could find themselves facing many of the same battles in a slightly different system.

What is the concern?

Children who have experienced early trauma, abuse, neglect, separation from birth family and instability in care often present very differently in school from other children with SEND. Their needs can be complex, layered and easy to misunderstand. A child may look anxious, dysregulated, distracted, oppositional, withdrawn or overwhelmed. Adults may see behaviour first, but not always the trauma, attachment disruption or neurodevelopmental needs underneath it. If the system does not recognise this properly, children can be missed, mislabelled or blamed for difficulties that are really signs of unmet need.

Previously looked after children are disproportionately affected by these reforms

Half of previously looked after children have identified SEND, far more than in the wider school population. They are also much more likely to have an Education, Health and Care Plan or to be receiving SEN Support. Yet the current SEND framework does not properly name them or explain how schools should respond to their needs. For families, this often means delays, repeated explanations, inconsistent help and the exhausting feeling that nobody is looking at the whole child.

What does Adoption UK want schools to do differently?

At the everyday school level, Adoption UK wants all education professionals to have a much better understanding of trauma, child development, disrupted attachment and care experience, and how these interact with SEND. That includes early years staff, teachers, school leaders and SENCOs. Mainstream schools need to be much better equipped and resourced to spot difficulties early and respond in ways that actually help.

What could that look like in practice?

A more trauma-informed school might think carefully about sensory overload, transitions, relational approaches to behaviour, and how to build trust with families. It might also take bullying linked to adoption and care experience more seriously. Our consultation response argued that early help should not become an excuse for delay. Too many families are told to “wait and see” when their child’s needs are already significant. We called for stronger guidance so that children can move more quickly to therapeutic help, mental health support or specialist assessment when needed.

What is most worrying about the new proposals?

Our response raised serious concerns about how the new system could work in practice. One is the move towards digital Individual Support Plans and new Specialist Provision Packages. On paper, a more flexible, needs-based system sounds promising. But many children’s needs do not fit neatly into one box. This is especially true for children with overlapping needs, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, or a mixture of trauma-related and neurodevelopmental difficulties. If support is organised too narrowly, children may get help for one part of their profile while other needs are ignored.

Why accountability still matters

Many parents already feel that the system only works when they are able to challenge poor decisions, often through exhausting appeals. If new plans are introduced without a meaningful right of appeal, families are unlikely to trust them. There is no evidence that weakening the powers of tribunals will result in better outcomes for children. Parents and carers must be treated as genuine experts on their children and involved as real partners in decisions, not simply asked to comment after plans have already been written.

Will families have less choice?

Another major concern is parental choice. If only certain schools can offer certain specialist packages or inclusion bases, some families may be told that their local or preferred school cannot meet their child’s needs. In smaller local authority areas, that could reduce choice dramatically. Our response also pointed out that when a child is adopted and given a new legal identity, information can easily be lost and support disrupted. Any new SEND system will need to handle this much better if it is to work for adopted children.

The bottom line

There is real potential in a SEND system that offers earlier support, better mainstream inclusion and clearer routes to specialist help. But Adoption UK is concerned that none of this will be enough if adopted and previously looked after children remain invisible in the detail. These children are often living with the long-term effects of trauma, grief, uncertainty and loss, sometimes alongside autism, ADHD, FASD, sensory difficulties or mental health needs. They need schools and services that understand this complexity rather than forcing them into simplistic categories. If the Government gets this right, the reforms could make a real difference. If it does not, many families will feel they are being asked to fight the same battles under new names.