The SEND Crisis: It’s Not About Funding—It’s About Where the Money Goes

Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, has openly said that England’s special needs system has not delivered. But why hasn’t it delivered? Because despite all the funding, SEN teachers and mainstream educators still aren’t receiving the correct training to understand autism, ADHD, and SpLD. 

 

Money has been poured into bureaucratic processes, failed interventions, and endless paperwork, while the most fundamental issue, teacher training, has been ignored. 

 

Every day, neurodivergent children sit in classrooms misunderstood and unsupported, not because teachers don’t care, but because they haven’t been trained to recognise the full spectrum of neurodivergence. 

 

A child with ADHD struggles to start tasks—they’re called lazy. 

A child with poor proprioception can’t catch a ball—they’re labelled uncoordinated. 

A child with sensory overload refuses group work—they’re told to “stop being difficult.” 

The reality? None of these are behavioural problems. They are neurological differences, but without proper training, teachers aren’t equipped to identify them. Instead, these children fall through the cracks, misunderstood and left without the support they need. 

 

Since 2014, the government has poured billions into SEND reforms, yet parents still have to fight for EHCPs, schools are overwhelmed, and local authorities are drowning in debt. 

 

❌ Expensive programs that don’t reach classrooms 

❌ Legal battles between parents and councils 

❌ Endless assessments that delay support 

 

✅ Comprehensive training for teachers—so they can identify and support neurodivergent students before they reach crisis points. 

✅ Practical strategies for mainstream schools to effectively include autistic, ADHD, and SpLD students. 

✅ Resources that make a real difference, not just more red tape. 

 

The government keeps pushing for more inclusion in mainstream schools, but inclusion without understanding is just exclusion in disguise. 

 

If a teacher doesn’t know how to support a neurodivergent child, that child will struggle, disengage, or be labelled as a problem. 

If a school doesn’t know how to adapt its environment, it will lead to higher exclusion rates, more school refusals, and increased mental health struggles. 

 

👉 Training is the missing piece. 

👉 Teachers need to know what to look for. 

👉 SEND students deserve to be understood, not just accommodated. 

 

The system is broken because we’ve been focusing on the wrong things. If we want real change, we need to train the people who actually work with neurodivergent children every day.