Guidance

Experts at Hand: what parents of children and young people with special educational needs need to know

Published 5 June 2026

Applies to England

We’re re-shaping the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system to help make all mainstream education settings – where most children and young people learn – truly inclusive.

We’re investing to train teachers, educators and assistants, and bring more experts such as speech and language therapists into mainstream nurseries, schools and colleges.

What we mean by mainstream settings

Mainstream settings are:

• mainstream state-funded schools (not specialist or alternative provision (AP) settings, or private schools)
• early years education – all nurseries, including those specialising in SEND provision, and childminders
• all mainstream post-16 providers, such as school sixth forms, further education (FE) colleges and organisations commissioned by local authorities or funded by the Department for Education (DfE) to deliver 16 to 19 education

We are also asking local areas to consider how they reach young children who are not in early education, including through Best Start family hubs and health visitors.

What Experts at Hand is

Experts at Hand is a new service being launched from September 2026 to help identify children’s needs earlier, and make sure they are receiving the best possible support in their everyday education environments.  

It works by bringing health and education experts such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists directly into mainstream settings to work closely with early years educators, teachers and staff. Children and young people will not need a diagnosis to access support – it is based on their need.

Mainstream settings will be able to get advice and support from professionals, including: 

• speech and language therapists
• occupational therapists
• educational psychologists
• specialist teachers from alternative provision and specialist settings, who will share speech, language and communication or sensory needs expertise, and provide short-term placements when required

The type of support available to mainstream settings includes: 

• observing children and young people in their learning environment and working alongside educators to identify their needs and develop strategies and approaches that will better meet them
• providing support in small groups or across the whole class, with one-to-one help provided occasionally where it is most needed
• training and coaching staff to be better able to identify needs, develop appropriate support and embed inclusive practice in everyday teaching and learning
• providing access to advice to help teachers deliver effective strategies to support children with additional needs 
• working with parents and carers to co-produce inclusive support, including developing resources, workshops and approaches that help them understand their child’s needs and ensure their voices shape practice and provision

This type of effective, early support prevents needs from escalating wherever possible and builds the skills and confidence of staff.

This is the start of the programme and we will work with education and healthcare staff, alongside local authorities, to learn and improve the service as it develops.

If your child already has support

Experts at Hand is about strengthening support in mainstream settings and is in addition to existing statutory support. This must be provided on top of any existing support that children currently receive and should never be used to replace the support provided through an education, health and care (EHC) plan.

Experts at Hand will also draw on the expertise of special schools and alternative provision to ensure the support provided in mainstream education is as strong as possible.

The Experts at Hand offer is in addition to that provided by other health services, which may already be supporting children and young people with SEND locally.  

How Experts at Hand will be delivered

We’re backing Experts at Hand with £1.8 billion of investment over the next 3 years, and have published detailed guidance on how it should be delivered. Local areas, including local authorities and health services, are creating local plans that will explain:

• what support is already available
• what will be improved first
• how new help will start to be offered

National guidance has been developed to support local areas in putting these plans into action and developing them over time. As new services are introduced, the local Experts at Hand offer will be regularly reviewed and improved, so it:

• works well for families
• meets local needs
• reflects what has been learnt along the way

Local areas will begin to introduce their Experts at Hand offer from September 2026. Delivery will follow a phased approach, with each area focusing first on the services most needed locally and then building on this over time. The offer will continue to be refined and strengthened to improve local SEND services. 

Your local integrated care board (ICB) (which is responsible for your local healthcare services) and your local authority are responsible for the design of Experts at Hand in your area. Local parent-carer forums have a vital role in shaping the Experts at Hand offer, ensuring lived experience and parent voices are at the centre of what is offered. Our guidance to local authorities and ICBs makes it clear how they must work with local partners when developing the local service.

What Experts at Hand will do in year 1

In year 1, support will be focused on group and whole-class approaches to have the greatest impact and support more children and young people.

That means support will be:

• delivered alongside mainstream setting staff

• focused on what will help many children at once, such as:

  • talking and understanding words – how your child learns to speak and communicate their needs and ideas
  • listening, paying attention and following instructions – how well your child can focus, understand what’s being said and carry out simple instructions
  • managing emotions – how your child copes with feelings such as frustration, excitement or upset
  • responding to their senses – how your child reacts to sounds, touch, movement and other sensations around them
  • making small hand movements – skills such as holding a pencil, drawing or getting ready for writing

We will publish updated guidance informed by what we learn in year 1 and share what has worked in practice to help shape the future of Experts at Hand.

The difference you will see

As a parent or carer, you play an important role. Experts at Hand encourages settings to:

• share advice and strategies you can use at home
• offer workshops or resources to help you understand your child’s development

Instead of waiting for a diagnosis or to meet a threshold for support, your child can benefit from:

• earlier identification of their needs by staff in the mainstream setting
• support built into everyday life in nursery, school or college
• adjustments and strategies being put in place quickly

Support is focused where children and young people are, so you may notice:

• changes in setting approach or routines
• small-group activities targeting language, communication or regulation
• education staff explaining how they are adapting learning to meet your child’s needs

Where changes affect your child directly, a setting should involve you and keep you informed about how support is being delivered and adapted.

Further information

To find out more, you can read:

• SEND reform: Putting children and young people first
• Experts at Hand: developing and delivering the offer in year 1
• Experts at Hand and Local Authority SEND Transformation Fund
• Every child achieving and thriving: policy paper
• Every child achieving and thriving: further information and fact sheets

And you can visit: - the National Network of Parent Carer Forums