On 24 June 2026, the Department for Education published what it described as a first-of-its-kind guidance package on SEND inclusion for schools, early years settings and colleges in England. The package is framed as a practical statement of what inclusive provision should look like on the ground, with the aim of reducing the wide variation that has left families facing very different offers depending on where they live. (gov.uk)
The most visible change is the department's move towards inclusion bases inside mainstream settings. Ministers say every secondary school should, in time, have an inclusion base, with equivalent places across local primary provision. The government's 24 June guidance says these bases should be run by a qualified teacher, should never be used as a sanction and should help pupils spend more time in mainstream classes rather than being separated from school life. (gov.uk)
That does not mean every element of the wider SEND reform programme is settled. The Department for Education's April 2026 consultation, SEND reform: putting children and young people first, said national guidance for inclusion bases would become a benchmark for Ofsted and be backed by new data collection, but it also made clear that other changes, including Specialist Provision Packages, Individual Support Plans and a revised SEND Code of Practice, depend on later legislation. The immediate shift is therefore a sharper operational benchmark, not a complete legal reset. (gov.uk)
The estates element matters just as much as the teaching model. The Education Estates Strategy published in February 2026 promised guidance on high-impact adaptations, and the new package begins to spell out what that means in practice: calmer routes into buildings, quieter or sensory-regulation spaces, better acoustics and lighting, access to nature, and practical accessibility changes such as ramps and handrails. The Department for Education also points settings towards "day in the life" walkthroughs so leaders can test the site from a child or young person's point of view rather than from an administrative plan. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
For school leaders, the message is that inclusion is being treated as a whole-school design and governance issue, not only a matter for the SENCO. Separate Department for Education guidance on the Inclusive Mainstream Fund says schools will have to publish an inclusion strategy from December 2026, setting out how they will remove barriers to learning and use funding to strengthen the universal offer. From September 2026, staff across early years, schools and colleges are also due to receive new government-backed SEND training. (gov.uk)
For families, the main gain is clearer ground rules. The guidance begins to define what parents should be able to ask a local setting about before a disagreement turns into a placement dispute: whether mainstream lessons remain the default, what calm or adapted spaces exist, how reasonable adjustments are made, and how support is delivered without excluding a child from trips, activities or peer relationships. The wider reform documents also restate that reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 do not depend on a formal diagnosis. (gov.uk)
Local authorities and post-16 providers are drawn more tightly into the same model. The consultation says inclusion bases should become part of the local education offer and be supported by capital investment, while specialist advice is expected to flow into mainstream settings through the planned Experts at Hand service. For colleges, ministers have accepted that delivery will need a tailored model rather than a direct copy of school arrangements, but the policy direction is unchanged: more support should be available locally, earlier and with less reliance on lengthy travel or prolonged waits for specialist input. (gov.uk)
The Department for Education is using existing local examples to show what success might look like. In the 24 June press release it cited 80% positive parental experience where a base was wanted, up to 100% access to mainstream lessons for autistic pupils in one Sheffield base, 80% strong GCSE English and maths passes in a Nottinghamshire base, and 93% average attendance in an Oxfordshire base for pupils who had previously struggled to attend. Those figures explain the department's direction of travel; the practical question now is whether guidance, staffing, inspection and capital funding can make that level of provision routine rather than exceptional. (gov.uk)