Bridget Phillipson’s SEND overhaul — what parents and schools will feel first from new ISPs to a £4bn uplift

The changes announced under Bridget Phillipson promise to shift the day-to-day experience for families and frontline staff before they change entitlements. Parents, teachers and local authorities will see new paperwork and new routes to help — individual support plans (ISPs), three tiers of support (targeted, targeted plus, specialist) and national inclusion standards — supported by a headline investment package. Here’s how those practical shifts land for the people who will use them most.

Bridget Phillipson’s plan in the classroom and at home: immediate effects

Here’s the part that matters: the reforms are designed so that children with additional needs get help earlier and more routinely. New ISPs will document day-to-day needs and expected support, while an Inclusive Mainstream Fund and an Experts at Hand service aim to give schools quicker access to specialists. The visible changes parents and teachers will notice first are more in-school support, clearer individual plans, and more outreach from specialist staff placed into local areas.

What the reform package changes for legal entitlements and long-term access

One of the biggest structural shifts is a narrowing of eligibility for education, health and care plans (EHCPs): only children with the most complex needs will qualify by 2035. EHCPs remain legal documents that identify needs and set out what support a pupil should receive, with local authorities responsible for ensuring they are followed. Children who already hold an EHCP, or who have been assessed as needing one, will keep it until they complete their current phase of education and then be reassessed starting from September 2029; for example, pupils now in Year 2 will be reassessed when they reach Year 6.

New terms, new tiers and what an ISP is

The system will use new terminology that parents and staff must learn: individual support plans (ISPs), plus three layers of support described as targeted, targeted plus and specialist. ISP stands for individual support plan and will set out a child’s needs, the support they should receive and the goals for that support. ISPs are described as flexible documents focused on day-to-day needs, while EHCPs remain the framework that gives legal entitlement to specified support.

Money, services and workforce changes being put in place

The package includes a stated landmark investment of £4 billion to make schools more inclusive. That overall sum is accompanied by specific pots: an Inclusive Mainstream Fund of £1. 6 billion over three years, provided directly to early years, schools and colleges to support early interventions and adaptive teaching styles; and £1. 8 billion over three years for an Experts at Hand service to create a bank of specialists (SEND teachers, speech and language therapists and other professionals) in every local area that schools can call on regardless of EHCP status. The investment is presented alongside a record increase for high-needs funding of £3. 5 billion in 2028 to 2029 over and above Autumn Budget 25 funding, plus existing commitments such as training for every teacher and 60, 000 new specialist places.

How parents’ experience and system pressures are being framed

The reforms are said to respond to a common parental complaint: support is often provided too late and only after a fight. The new approach aims to rebuild confidence by putting inclusion at the heart of schools and funding interventions like small-group language support and staff development so needs are identified earlier. Parents will still be able to apply for EHCPs, which will be delivered by local authorities, and can challenge decisions at tribunal.

• Quick timeline: 2012–2019 saw a fall of almost a quarter in children with SEND in mainstream schools while special school numbers rose by nearly a third; until 2015 EHCP rates were stable at 2. 8% and have since nearly doubled to 5. 3%.
• Starting point for reassessments: from September 2029; by 2035 EHCP eligibility will be limited to the most complex needs.
• Funding snapshots: Inclusive Mainstream Fund £1. 6bn over 3 years; Experts at Hand £1. 8bn over 3 years; headline investment described as £4bn; a record high-needs uplift of £3. 5bn for 2028–2029.

If you’re wondering why this keeps coming up in public debate, one strand of the controversy is cultural: some commentators and campaign voices have framed rises in SEND diagnoses as overdiagnosis, and there have been examples of media-seeking appeals that placed a monetary incentive on finding a parent to criticise SEND spending (one such appeal offered £150). The policy rhetoric positions the changes against that backdrop and emphasises a mainstream inclusion approach.

It’s easy to overlook, but the reform package mixes paperwork changes with heavy investment in workforce and local access to specialists — a combination intended to shift outcomes without simply expanding legal entitlements.

Key takeaways:

• ISPs will change everyday planning and communication between schools and families, while EHCPs will be reserved for the most complex cases by 2035.
• Parents and teachers should expect more in-school specialists available on demand through Experts at Hand, and direct funding the Inclusive Mainstream Fund.
• Reassessments of existing EHCPs begin from September 2029, with a cohort example given (Year 2 pupils reassessed in Year 6).
• Financial signals to monitor: the implementation of the £1. 6bn, £1. 8bn and the broader £4bn investment, plus the £3. 5bn high-needs uplift for 2028–2029.
• System risks include transitional demand pressures — the proportion of pupils with EHCPs is expected to rise during rollout before the government aims to slow it and return to earlier levels by 2035.

The real question now is how quickly schools and local authorities can translate funds and specialist capacity into consistent early support for children, and whether the new tiers and paperwork will simplify or complicate access in practice. Recent updates indicate that further implementation detail and timelines will continue to emerge, and some elements remain unclear in the provided context.