Our response to the Education Committee’s ‘Solving the SEND Crisis’ report

The Education Committee has published a report called ‘Solving the SEND Crisis’ following its inquiry into the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities system.  

Responding to the Committee’s findings, Chief Executive of Ambitious about Autism, Jolanta Lasota, said:  

“As this report identifies, autistic young people and their parents have lost faith in the SEND system. Trust and confidence have been eroded by long delays and failures to get young people with SEND the help they need to achieve in education.  

“Our research found that 70% of autistic young people have experienced some form of lost learning and that one in 10 parents have lost a job because their child is out of education.  

“The committee makes many sensible recommendations about how to solve the SEND crisis, including the need to make SEND a mandatory part of teachers' continuous professional development. This is something we think will make a hugely positive difference to autistic young people’s experiences at school.

"MPs have also rightly identified that any reforms should not be based on withdrawing existing support and legal rights – such as access to Education, Health and Care plans. This is something we know many parents and young people are concerned about.

“The Education Committee has spoken to many young people with SEND, their families and professionals over the course of its inquiry and we hope the government gives serious consideration to its findings, as it plans SEND system reform.”