2027 - DfE Guidance for Schools on Inclusion and What Schools Should Do!

by SEN Parent Support Group

The Department for Education has published the list of topics included in the new national SEND and Inclusion in‑house training package for mainstream schools and post‑16 settings.

On paper, this looks like progress. In reality, it’s a roadmap without the actual roads yet built. It tells us what schools are expected to understand, embed and deliver as part of the SEND reforms but not how they will do it, who will enforce it, or what parents should expect to see in real classrooms.

For parents, this matters because it sets the baseline of what staff should know, how they should respond to needs, and what “inclusive teaching” should look like. But the question is: will it? And when?

The training is being rolled out in phases, with some sections available now and others arriving between January and April 2027.

Schools are expected to use these materials to plan staff development, evaluate their current practice, and build consistent approaches to supporting children and young people with SEND.

In theory, this means parents should start seeing more structured, evidence based approaches rather than the ad‑hoc, inconsistent responses many families still face daily.

The guidance mentions planning templates, monitoring tools, coaching summaries, and a self‑assessment tool. These are described as supports – but let’s be honest, they also introduce accountability. And accountability is exactly what many schools avoid. Will these tools be used properly? Or will they become yet another set of documents that sit untouched because they require time, reflection, and transparency?

For parents, if this works, schools should be able to clearly explain what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how they know whether it is working. But wasn’t this already required under the SEND Code of Practice 2015? Why are we reinventing expectations that were never consistently met in the first place? This is the million dollar question already regarding SEND Reforms – duplication and accountability?

A key part of the training is the “Introduction to SEND reforms and inclusive teaching”. It explains inclusive teaching as adapting lessons so every child can access learning, reducing barriers, and responding early and consistently. But again wasn’t this already part of the “whole school approach” that schools were supposed to follow for the last decade? If teachers struggled to implement it then, what’s going to change now? Who is going to monitor this? The SENCo? Because under SCOP 2015, that was already their role and many SENCos are drowning under impossible workloads.

The training covers core areas of development:

speech, language and communication

social and emotional needs

executive function

motor and physical development

sensory needs.

These are the needs we see every day in classrooms. But here’s the real world question:

when will teachers actually receive this training?

How will they fit it in?

They are not SALT specialists, not OTs, not mental health practitioners.

If the expectation is that teachers become experts in all these areas, where is the protected time, the funding, the staffing, the supervision?

“Inclusive teaching strategies” will be available from January 2027. These include explicit instruction, scaffolding, feedback, building positive relationships, creating calm classroom environments, and making adaptations or providing additional support.

Again, this is not new. These strategies existed long before this training package. Many parents will recognise them as the same approaches that used to sit inside IEP reviews, provision maps, and graduated response cycles (APDR).

Are they simply rebranding old expectations with new language?

Parents should expect teachers to be able to explain how they are using these strategies and how they are adapting them for their child. If a child is struggling, the school should be able to show which strategies have been tried, how they were monitored, and what the next steps are. But will they? And what happens when they don’t?

Case studies from primary, secondary and post 16 settings will be added from April 2027. These will show how schools have implemented inclusive teaching and SEND reforms in real world contexts. That’s helpful but only if schools actually acknowledge SEN in the first place.

And that remains one of the biggest battles parents face: getting schools to recognise needs early, honestly, and without defensiveness.

Overall, this training package sets a clear expectation: schools must build confidence, consistency and stronger SEND practice. Parents should expect schools to be familiar with these materials, to be actively using them, and to be able to demonstrate how they are improving their inclusive teaching. But expectations without enforcement are just words and for SEND parents we know this already!

Right now, this DfE document gives nothing practical. No examples. No adaptations. No real world scenarios. No “this is what good looks like”. It is a list of topics with a promise that the actual content will come later.

We wait. And as always, we will keep on top of this, break it down, and make sure you – our SEND parents – are forewarned, forearmed, and ready to hold schools to account at every stage of these reforms.

Read more on this subject: Inclusion Guidance vs. Inclusion Law: What Parents and Professionals Need to Know – SEN Parent Support Group

You can read the full DfE guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-training-for-schools-guide-to-materials/list-of-topics-covered-in-send-and-inclusion-in-house-training-mainstream-schools-and-post-16-settings

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