The exams system and real inclusion are still pulling in opposite directions. Here’s what the new curriculum report means for children with SEND — and for your family.
A new report has said out loud what a lot of families and schools have felt for years: if the government is serious about SEND reform, it can’t leave the curriculum and the exams system untouched. The Teaching Commission warns that the planned curriculum changes are “not sufficiently aligned” with the government’s SEND reforms — and that a continued over-reliance on high-stakes GCSE exams will keep holding back children with SEND and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Working with children and families across Kent every week, I couldn’t agree more.
For years, schools have been asked to become more inclusive while being measured almost entirely on academic outcomes — SATs, GCSEs, progress scores, league tables. Those two demands have never sat comfortably together, and for the children we support, the tension shows. Many of them — autistic children, children with ADHD, dyslexia, speech and language needs, sensory differences, or social, emotional and mental health needs — simply don’t fit neatly into a system built around fixed assessments and age-related expectations. That isn’t a failing in the child. It’s a mismatch in the system built around them.
A school judged mainly on attendance figures and exam results is under enormous pressure to produce numbers — even when the most important progress for a particular child can’t be captured in a number at all. A child with significant additional needs might need any of the following, none of which shows up neatly on a spreadsheet:
When the spreadsheet is what gets counted, the quiet temptation is always to nudge these children to the margins. The result is painfully familiar to any family who has lived it: parents fighting for support, children becoming increasingly dysregulated, anxiety climbing, attendance slipping, and the relationship between home and school slowly breaking down.
The year the new national curriculum is first taught in England. The Teaching Commission warns the reforms risk being “too conservative” to close the attainment gap for pupils with SEND — unless assessment and accountability change alongside them. Source: Teaching Commission report, reported by Schools Week, 2026.
True inclusion means being willing to sit with some uncomfortable questions. Should every child be assessed in exactly the same way? Is academic attainment the only version of success worth measuring? How do we recognise progress when a child’s development isn’t linear? Do we value emotional regulation, communication and independence as much as we value a grade? For many of the children we work with, a good year looks like this:
Those aren’t consolation prizes. They are the foundations that everything else — including academic learning — is eventually built on. A child who feels safe and regulated can learn. A child in a state of daily overwhelm cannot, no matter how good the teaching in front of them.
The overall direction of SEND reform — earlier intervention, more support delivered within mainstream settings — is the right one. But it hands schools significantly more responsibility, and it only works if schools are genuinely resourced to carry it: training, funding, time, specialist input, and real flexibility in the curriculum.
I want to be honest about the gap here, because it matters. Policy moves slowly. Reports are written, consulted on, revised. A new curriculum won’t even be taught until 2028. But your child is growing up now, in the system as it currently is.
While the system catches up, families still need to understand their child properly, secure the right support, and help them thrive. That’s exactly the work we do at Education With Lauren — and it’s worth being clear that this is not tutoring bolted onto the school day. We help families see the full picture of their child’s needs, make sense of what school is (and isn’t) actually providing, and build a plan around the child in front of us rather than the average child the system was designed for.
Children don’t fail because they have SEND. Children struggle when a system is too rigid to adapt to the way they learn.
If we genuinely want an inclusive education system, then curriculum, assessment and accountability have to reflect the reality of neurodiversity and additional needs — not treat them as an afterthought to be tidied up once the “real” reforms are done. The success of these reforms won’t be decided by the wording of a report. It will be decided by whether schools are given the tools, the flexibility and the support to include every child — and by whether we are finally willing to measure success as more than a test score.
Worried your child isn’t getting the support they need — or not sure whether what you’re seeing at school really adds up? A free 15-minute call with Lauren is a calm, no-pressure place to talk it through.
Book a free 15-minute call with LaurenA Full Educational Gap Analysis gives you a clear, specific understanding of how your child actually learns — and exactly the kind of evidence a shifting system runs on. It looks far beyond whether a child is “behind,” building a picture across areas including:
It gives school something concrete to act on — and it gives you a clear document that strengthens your position, whether you’re asking for support in class or building toward an EHCP assessment.
“The gap analysis has been so helpful. I now feel like I have a much clearer understanding of what will help her achieve — and I know what I need to be discussing with school in terms of appropriate support.”
“The best thing we could have done. Now we know the reasons for our son’s constant struggles at school — and he actually enjoys going to Lauren.”
Every child deserves an education that recognises their strengths, understands their barriers, and gives them the room to thrive.
This article is general information and comment for parents about proposed curriculum and SEND reforms in England. It is a plain-English summary and opinion, not legal advice. If you have concerns about your child or your school’s provision, a free 15-minute call is a good place to start.
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