SEND and Inclusion


NASUWT Research  (Ellis et al 2008/2012)

These are two reports we produced on behalf of the NASUWT.  They are quite old now but are potentially still useful for anyone involved researching literature and policy development in reality to SEND and Inclusion.  The first report (Ellis et al 2008)  is a literature review, the second report contains research conducted in schools but perhaps more importantly for use now, updates literature from the earlier report. 


Ellis, S, Tod, J and Graham-Matheson, L (2012) Special Educational Needs and Inclusion: Reflection, Renewal and Reality Birmingham: NASUWT (online version accessed 1/4/25)


Ellis, S., Tod, J. And Graham-Matheson, L (2008) Special Educational Needs and Inclusion: Reflection and Renewal. Birmingham: NASUWT (online version accessed 1/4/25)


The Warnock Report (DES 1978)

The Warnock Report served to define the approach to Special Educational Needs pursued in the UK from 1978 onwards. It set out a range of recommendations, many of which were incorporated into the 1981 Education Act.  Unfortunately a pdf copy remains elusive but this link allows you to read the original text online https://www.education-uk.org/documents/warnock/warnock1978.html (accessed 1/4/25)


The 1981 Education Act

The 1981 Education Act incorporated many of the recommendations from the Warnock Report (DES 1978).    You can view the Act via this link https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/60/enacted (accessed 1/4/25) or view DES Circular 8/81 on the excellent education-org.uk website via https://www.education-uk.org/documents/des/circular8-81.html (accessed 1/4/25). The Circular interprets the Act and may be more helpful in understanding what the legislative changes meant for schools at the time.  If you're writing a brief overview of policy development as part of an assignment, the headline points from the 1981 Education Act are:


  • It endorsed the majority of Warnock Report's recommendation, including a ploy of Integration
  • It provided a formal definition of SEN (with very minor variations in wording we have used this definition ever since)
  • It introduced the Statement of Special Educational Needs (replaced in the Children and Families Act 2014 with Education, Health and Care Plans)


The Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs (DfE 1994)

This was the first SEN Code of Practice.  An online version is not available but if you are doing an assignment tracing the development of SEN policy and guidance some headline points are:


  • It formally introduced the role of SENCO (Formally as a lot of schools will have already had somebody with responsibility for SEN coordination)
  • It introduced a 5 stage model of SEN provision.  Stages 1-3 were known as the school-based stages.  Stages 4 and 5 related respectively to the statutory assessment process and the issuing of a Statement of SEN
  • It introduced the expectation that every child with SEN would have an Individual Education plan (IEP).


An Ofsted report reviewing the impact of IEPs three years on from their introduction is available here https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/4388/1/SEN_Code_of_Practice_Three_years_on_%28PDF_format%29%5B1%5D.pdf (accessed 2/4/25)


The Salamanca Statement (UNESCO 1994)

An international conference on Special Education was held in Salamanca, Spain. The governments represented at the conference agreed a commitment to inclusive education. This is set out in the Salamanca Statement available at https://www.european-agency.org/sites/default/files/salamanca-statement-and-framework.pdf (accessed 2/4/25)


Excellence for All Children (DfEE 1997)

In this Green Paper the UK Government  expressed its commitment to a policy of Inclusion - prior to this, since the 1981 Education Act, a policy of Integration had been pursued.  Available at https://www.education-uk.org/documents/pdfs/1997-green-paper.pdf (accessed 1/4/25)


The revised National Curriculum (DfEE/QCA 1999) included what is commonly known as the  National Curriculum Inclusion Statement.    This established inclusive teaching requirement.  Schools were expected to teachers :

  • Set suitable learning challenges
  • Respond to pupils’ diverse learning needs
  • Overcome potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils

Each of these expectations is expanded on in the document (see page 30 onwards), available at  https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18150/7/QCA-99-457_Redacted.pdf )accessed 2/4/25)


Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (DfES 2001)

The revised Code of Pratcice (DfES 2001) replaced the 1994 version (DfE 1994).  Headline points:


  • It replaced Stage 1-3 from the 1994 Code with School Action and School Action Plus. 
  • It reinforced the principles of the National Curriculum Inclusion Statement, stating: ‘All teachers are teachers of children with special educational needs’ (DfES 2001: 44)
  • It replaced the categories of need set out in the 1994 Code with  just 4 areas of need: The areas of need are: Communication and Interaction, Cognition and Learning,  Behaviour, Emotional and Social Development and Sensory and/or Physical.


Available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7cac22ed915d7c983bc342/special_educational_needs_code_of_practice.pdf (accessed 2/4/25)


Inclusive Schooling (DfES 2001)

This document provided statutory guidance on the practical operation of the new statutory framework for inclusion. Available at https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/4552/1/DfES-0774-2001.pdf (accessed 3/4/25)


Removing Barriers to Achievement (DfES 2004)

This document set out the government's commitment to improving outcomes through early intervention, removing barriers to learning, raising expectations and achievement and delivering improvements in partnership. It also set SEN within the wider context of the Every Child Matters policy.  Removing Barriers to Achievement  is available at https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/4955/14/pri_loi_sen_govt_strategy_Redacted.pdf (accessed 3/4/25)


Leading on Inclusion (DfES 2005)

This was professional development pack with several sections produced by the DfES.  Importantly in the chronology it:


  • Related the Waves model of intervention that had already appeared in the 2002 publication Including All children in the literacy Hour and Daily Mathematics Lesson (DfES 2002) to SEN
  • It made clear that IEPS were not statutory and provision maps could be used as an alternative, stating,

‘It is now government policy that IEPs are only one method by which schools can plan for pupils with SEN. They are not statutory and are merely one way of planning and recording the additional or different provision for a child with SEN and recording outcomes for individual pupils. Where schools have arrangements to plan individually for all pupils and record their progress – as will become more common with personalised learning – then IEPs may be unnecessary’ (DfES 2005: 214).

  • It explained what Provision Maps were and how to use them


A section of the Leading on Inclusion that explains the waves model and provision maps can be viewed via this link https://wsassets.s3.amazonaws.com/ws/nso/pdf/b803eb6eb27e163129f675434cdc33bb.pdf (accessed 3/4/25)


Inclusion: Does It Matter Where pupils Are Taught? (Ofsted 2006)

The important summary point from this document was the finding that effective provision was distributed equally between mainstream and special schools when certain factors were securely in place, but more good or outstanding provision existed in resourced mainstream schools.  Available at https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/6001/1/Inclusion%20does%20it%20matter%20where%20pupils%20are%20taught%20%28pdf%20format%29%20.pdf  (accessed 3/4/25)


Criticisms of the operation of national policy for SEN (2004 -2009)

At this point in the chronology a number of documents were published expressing concerns regarding the operation of the national policy for SEN.



Ofsted (2010) The Special Educational Needs and Disability Review:  A Statement is Not Enough. This report was commissioned by the Labour government but reported under the Conservative-Liberal Coalition government in power from May 2010. The report  was highly critical report, expressing concern over a number of issues:

  • Variability between schools and between local authorities in the identification of SEN
  • The term ‘special educational needs’ was used too widely and some schools were over-identifying SEN
  • Some pupils were being wrongly identified as having special educational needs and relatively expensive additional provision was being used to make up for poor day-to-day teaching and pastoral support.
  • Some schools might be identifying more pupils as having SEN in the belief that it would positively influence their contextual value added score
  • In Local Authorities where formula funding  for schools  took into account the proportion of pupils with SEN this provided a financial motivation for schools to over identify.


DfE (2011) Support and Aspiration: a New Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability. This Green Paper set out the Conservative-Liberal coalition government's plans for a major reform of the SEN system.  Available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a751423e5274a3cb28697c7/Support_and_Aspiration_Green-Paper-SEN.pdf (accessed 3/4/25)


DfE/DoH (2015) Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0-25 Years 

Though the publication date is January 2015, an 'indicative draft' had been available in 2013 and a subsequent draft published in April 2014, so schools  and Local Authorities were already aware and transitioning to the new system.   There were many changes but three examples that directly changed school practice were:

  • The replacement of School Action and School Action Plus from the 2001 SEN Code of Practice with a single school based stage known as SEN  Support
  • The replacement of the Statement of Special Educational Need with the Education, Health and Care Plan
  • The replacement of 'Behaviour, Emotional and Social Development' with 'Social Emotional and Mental Health'

The 2015 Code of Practice is available here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7dcb85ed915d2ac884d995/SEND_Code_of_Practice_January_2015.pdf (accessed 3/4/25)