Join our focus groups on SEN units
3 mins read
Wednesday 6 August 2025
Some mainstream schools have specialist units or resource bases which provide extra support to children who have additional needs.
The government wants to increase inclusion. Could specialist units or resource bases be part of the solution to the current SEND crisis?
We want to hear from families your experiences of SEN units and views on how they might help improve inclusion. We are running some online focus groups in August and September to hear from you. Book a place today.
We are offering a £20 voucher as a thank you for taking part.
What are the issues?
When specialist units and resource bases work well, they enable inclusion. However, the success of these units is dependent on how well they are resourced, as well as how effectively they interact with the wider mainstream school. It’s important that they are staffed by those who have appropriate teaching qualifications.
Recently, many local authorities have increased the number of specialist units in mainstream schools in their areas without any government guidance.
If the units are set up in a rush, as a means of reducing costs, they can lack resources. If this happens there is a risk disabled children are segregated from their peers and taught only in the unit, without any interaction with the wider school.
Calls to Contact’s helpline suggests these units vary dramatically from one school to another.
My experience of a specialist unit
Here our education policy lead, Imogen Steele, shares her experience.
“Having been born with cerebral palsy, I attended a specialised unit in a mainstream secondary school, and it was truly amazing. The unit was designed to support a small group of pupils with physical disabilities. I was completely included in the mainstream school. All of my classes took place in the wider school. I used the unit for physio, OT, a place to rest when I needed and a base to catch up on any work I missed. In all of my classes, I was supported by Learning Support Assistants who were attached to the unit.
“However, many units function very differently. I can imagine how isolating it would have been to be stuck in the unit all the time, taught away from my peers in a separate room with different teachers without access to the same opportunities as others just down the corridor. “
What Contact thinks
It’s important that the Department for Education hears from parent carers and young people when shaping policy , so we welcome their survey.
Contact would like to see clear guidance for specialist units to ensure they are appropriately funded, staffed and founded on the principle of inclusion, respecting and protecting every child’s right to a mainstream education, whilst not replacing the role of special schools.
Done well specialist units have the potential for more young people to feel included in their local school community. However, increasing them without suitable regulations or guidance, could lead to them being entirely separate in teaching and location from the mainstream school.
Have Your Say
Contact are running some focus groups so we can hear your views and experiences of SEN units, please book a place here. They are online and we are offering a £20 voucher as a thank you for taking part.
