At the beginning of 2017 over 1.2 million pupils in the UK education system had a Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND). Schools, however, face increasingly limited funding, ongoing changes in SEN policy (such as the 2014 SEND code of practice which has replaced Statements with EHC plans) and the challenge of meeting increasingly complex needs within mainstream schools. Consequently, this area of policy has never been more in need of innovative thinking and new policy ideas.

Please join us and our expert panel to discuss what aspects of Special Educational Needs policy are working, what challenges we still face and what approach a future government should be taking to best support those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities within our education system.

Panel:

Emma Lewell Buck MP: Shadow Education Minister for Children and Families

Matthew Dodd: Principal Education Policy Officer for the Council for Disabled Children

John Brown: SEN Consultant and former SEN Coordinator for the UCL Institute of Education.