Children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) across Rushcliffe are set to benefit from a further £5,872,368 of government investment to help mainstream schools become more inclusive and improve support for families.
Nottinghamshire has been awarded the funding through the Inclusive Mainstream Fund, part of a £500 million national programme to help schools, colleges and early years settings strengthen support for children and young people with SEND.
The announcement is the latest in a series of government investments in Nottinghamshire’s SEND system. Earlier this year, the county received £16 million in High Needs Capital Allocation funding to expand specialist SEND capacity and create additional places, alongside more than £6 million to establish the “Experts at Hand” service, improving access to specialist support.
Together, these investments are strengthening different parts of Nottinghamshire’s SEND system by expanding specialist provision, improving access to expert advice and helping mainstream settings better meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.
For too long, families in Nottinghamshire and across the East Midlands have faced a postcode lottery, with many children forced to travel long distances for support or wait months – and sometimes years – to receive the help they need. The government confirmed last week that it would be taking an important step towards ending this lottery by setting out clear expectations for how schools and settings in Nottinghamshire can develop SEND provision so that children and young people can thrive closer to home.
The £5.9 million funding comes with new national guidance designed to help schools become more inclusive, including a commitment that every secondary school will have an inclusion base – dedicated spaces providing targeted teaching and specialist support for pupils who need it.
The announcement follows publication earlier this year of Rushcliffe MP James Naish’s report on SEND, which drew on evidence from three roundtables with parents, carers, teachers and education professionals from across the constituency. The report highlighted concerns that support is too often difficult to access, inconsistent between areas and only available once children reach crisis point.
James Naish, MP for Rushcliffe, said: “Parents, carers and teachers across Rushcliffe told me clearly that too many families are having to fight for support, often waiting a long time to get the help their children need. These changes will start the process of schools providing more support closer to home, and creating learning environments where every child feels they belong.
“However, I am very clear that more inclusive services won’t suit every child with SEND, so the fight for stronger specialist and alternative provision continues. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution available when it comes to SEND.”
The funding and guidance has been welcomed by various stakeholder groups, including Annamarie Hassall MBE, the Chief Executive Office at the National Association for Special Educational Needs, who said: “This guidance reflects the strong practice already happening across many schools, where dedicated staff are finding creative and effective ways to support children and young people with SEND to feel included and succeed. Importantly, the guidance has been developed with the sector, for the sector, includes examples of current practice set out as six principles along with clearer, shared language. We welcome the guidance in helping to create greater consistency and understanding across the system so that every learner can truly achieve and thrive.”
For the first time, the government has published guidance setting out what families should expect from inclusive provision in schools and colleges. The guidance states that inclusion bases must never be used as a sanction, must be led by qualified teachers and should support pupils to access a broad and ambitious curriculum while remaining fully involved in school life.
Alongside this, new inclusive estates guidance will help schools adapt buildings and learning environments around the needs of children and young people with SEND. This could include creating quieter spaces, improving lighting and acoustics, and making buildings easier to navigate.
The changes are intended to help reduce the postcode lottery in SEND provision and ensure more children can access the support they need in their local school.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- James Naish MP published his report on SEND in January 2026 following three roundtable discussions held in September 2025 involving parents, carers, teachers, support staff and education professionals from across Rushcliffe. You can find it here: https://www.jamesnaish.com/rushcliffe-send-report-jamaes-naish-mp/
- In Nottinghamshire, 80% of pupils accessing a base achieve strong passes in GCSE Maths and English.
- The Inclusion Bases guidance was developed with the Council for Disabled Children and nasen, and a wide range of stakeholders, drawing on input from over 500 schools, 20+ local authorities, 34 children and young people, and 30 parents and carers.
- The Inclusive Estates guidance covers mainstream schools, early years settings and further education providers.
- As set out in the IMF guidance, schools must publish an Inclusion Strategy on their website by 31 December 2026. These strategies will also act as reassurance for parents that their child’s school is prioritising inclusion for all.
- Separate guidance has been published on the Inclusive Early Years Fund and on the IMF for FE and post-16 providers.
- The wider reforms will be taken forward through the Education for All Bill, subject to the outcome of our consultation, including proposals for a new legal duty to put an Individual Support Plan in place for every child and young person with SEND, ensuring they have a clear route to support and access to high-quality education, health and care wherever they live.
