SEND inclusion in education expert group
Expert group advising the Department for Education on improvements to mainstream education for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Purpose
The group was set up in December 2024 to advise ministers on how to improve mainstream education outcomes and experiences for children and young people with SEND.
In June 2025, the group was extended to ensure that as the government progresses towards publication of a Schools White Paper including SEND reforms in the autumn Ministers can draw on a broad range of advice and input.
The group will use their collective expertise to support the generation and mobilisation of research and best practice evidence to enable the implementation of high-quality inclusive education.
The group will also provide advice and challenge on specific areas of policy, with a particular focus on the following areas:
- inclusive classroom practice and culture
- improving identification of children with SEND in mainstream settings
- additional support for children with SEND in mainstream settings
- workforce capability and expertise
- enabling conditions and incentives
The group will also:
- provide advice on setting clearer expectations around roles and responsibilities for inclusion and SEND in the education system
- advise on the implementation of SEND system reforms
- consider how reforms focused on improving inclusion will interact with wider system reforms including, but not limited to:
- the Curriculum and Assessment Review
- reforms to Ofsted and accountability
Terms of reference
The provide more information on the group’s:
- main aims and responsibilities
- operating model
- reporting functions
Scope
The group will cover policy and practice delivered within mainstream settings across Early Years, Schools and Post-16.
The group will pay particular attention to the interactions between mainstream and specialist settings, including alternative provision. It will also look at how settings and local authorities and health partners best work together to deliver high quality and inclusive education.
The group will consider how reforms focused on improving inclusion will interact with wider system reforms, and any developments in health and social care.
Membership
- Tom Rees, CEO, Ormiston Academy Trust (Chair)
- Dr Anne Heavey, Director of Insights, Ambition Institute
- Susan Douglas, CEO, Eden Academy Trust
- Heather Sandy, Executive Director of Children’s Services at Lincolnshire County Council
- Matthew Evans, CEO of The Athelstan Trust
- Simon Knight, Co-Headteacher, Frank Wise School
- Dr Sue Franklin, Principal Educational Psychologist at Lewisham Local Authority and Chair of the National Association of Principal Educational Psychologists
- Mark Vickers, CEO, Olive Academies
- Julian Grenier, Senior Content and Engagement Manager for Early Years, Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)
- Michelle Dowse, Principal and Chief Executive, Heart of Worcestershire College
- Professor Karen Guldberg, Professor of Autism Studies at University of Birmingham (former chair of the Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group)
Strategic advisor on special educational needs and disabilities
Dame Christine Lenehan is the strategic advisor on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
She will feed into this group and provide advice and expertise to the Secretary of State for Education and the Minister of State for School Standards on aspects of the ongoing SEND reform programme.
Meeting frequency
The group will meet on a monthly basis.