Over the past few months, there’s been a flurry of chatter around the future of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Whispers of potential reforms, changing criteria, and even scrapping EHCPs altogether. If the goal is to reduce EHCPs by making mainstream schools more inclusive, more inclusion is something many of us would celebrate. But let’s be clear: you don’t need to strip away legal entitlements to achieve this vision. You need to make schools more inclusive first.
Because it’s simple, really, when schools are equipped, resourced and trained to meet diverse needs, fewer children will require an EHCP just to access what should be available to everyone: a meaningful, supported education.
But inclusion doesn’t happen through policy announcements or budget reshuffles. It happens in classrooms, through relationships, attitudes, flexibility and trust.
So why are we starting with the wrong end of the conversation?
Removing EHCPs or tightening criteria before mainstream schools are truly inclusive only shifts the burden back to families and teachers. It asks children to fit a system that still isn’t designed for them, rather than designing a system that fits children.
Let’s also talk about trust, because at the heart of the SEND system is a relationship between families, children and education professionals. And right now, thousands of families who have already fought for an EHCP, or are anxiously waiting for an EHCNA decision, are reading headlines about possible cuts, changes, and silence from policymakers. They’re going into the summer unsure if their child’s future support will still exist in the future.
How is that fair?
We need clarity, not confusion.
Legal entitlements like EHCPs are vital for children whose needs cannot be met without specific, coordinated support. Reform in the SEND system is needed, yes. But reform must start with inclusive practice on the ground, not dismantling protections before alternatives are proven.
If they genuinely want fewer EHCPs, then we must first build a system where fewer children need them. That begins by listening to families, empowering educators, and backing inclusion with actions,not just words.
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