Making sure parent voices are heard in the Schools White Paper consultation
5 mins read
Tuesday 28 April 2026
Since the Schools White paper for England was published, there’s been growing concern from parents about the proposals and about whether their voices are being heard in the consultation process. Contact has been speaking directly to parents about their concerns and insights. We will combine this parental feedback with the data we regularly gather from our dedicated helpline and online advice service on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to form our response to the consultation, which closes May 18th.
We encourage parents who have the time and energy to complete the consultation themselves, but we want to reassure those that don’t, we will represent your views in our response.
Focus Groups
In March, Contact held eight Focus Groups about the Schools White Paper. Each group consisted of between 5-10 parents with children aged 4 to 25 who have a special educational need or disability (SEND). In total we spoke to 49 parents in England.
Their children had a variety of special educational needs including autism, mental health condition, profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), Down Syndrome, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, rare genetic condition, degenerative condition, ADHD, as well as others.
The support each child receives at school varied and included those with no support, some with SEN support and those with support through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), as well as children out of school, with or without an Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS) package. Several parents were teachers or school governors so have professional experience of the SEND system too.
Anna Bird, Chief Executive of Contact, said: “We are incredibly grateful to the parents who took part in our series of focus groups last month. Your insights, concerns and suggested solutions will form a large part of Contact’s response to the government’s Schools White paper consultation.
“We’ve heard very clearly from most parents that they don’t trust the consultation process, and they don’t think the proposed reforms will work as they stand. There is a shared view that these proposals will reduce children’s rights. Parents, charities and educators are all saying that would be a failure. We will be very clear about this in our consultation response.
“What we’re also hearing is that parents are feeling fatigued by the whole process: the timing of the white paper, the number of other reforms impacting disabled children and their families, and the concern around what is and isn’t up for consultation have left some parents disengaging from the process. Government needs to hear that and understand the risk that presents.”
Parents concerns:
- The loss of legal rights and enforceability. Parents are worried that, unlike EHCPs, the new Individual Support Plans (ISPs) do not carry a statutory duty to deliver support.
- The reduced role of the SEND Tribunal and increased reliance on school-based complaints procedures; many believe this will lead to damaging relationships between parents and schools.
- The reforms do not address the school environment and the potential to make schools more welcoming. It was agreed that schools becoming less results-driven and more nurturing, with smaller class sizes, less strict behaviour and uniform policies and a greater focus on wellbeing and a more rounded curriculum, would be a reform that would have significant benefits.
- The introduction of “Targeted” and “Targeted Plus” support doesn’t represent a significant change from the current system. There is not enough detail to demonstrate how this is anything other than a change in terminology.
Parents welcome:
- The aims of improving consistency across areas, strengthening mainstream inclusion, and promoting earlier identification of needs.
- Individual Support Plans (ISPs) if done correctly have the potential to provide more flexible and responsive support.
- The push for greater multidisciplinary working.
- A nationally standardised EHCP format could reduce regional variation and make plans clearer for families.
- A system that differentiates those who have profound, life-long medical and learning needs.
- A system that is more equitable and doesn’t rely on having the time, knowledge and means to go through a tribunal process.
We will be submitting the full Focus Group report to the Department for Education and the Education Select Committee.
Data from our helpline and online services
We are also using data from enquiries to our national helpline to inform our consultation response.
This provides additional valuable insight, directly from parent carers, who contact us for advice about their child’s education.
We have already been proactively sharing parent carers’ insights with key stakeholders including ministers at select committees and with Department for Education policy teams, as well as contributing to roundtable discussions and SEND-focused working groups. This ongoing engagement ensures that the lived experiences of families are reflected in wider policy development.
How can I share my views?
You can respond to the consultation online. You can also respond to this consultation via email at [email protected], or by post to:
SENDAP Reform, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BT
The consultation closes on 11:59pm on 18 May 2026.
After the consultation closes, any changes would still need to go through Parliament. Throughout that entire process, existing SEND law remains in place.