A think tank has called for greater investment in the workforce supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), warning that gaps in outcomes for this group remain stubbornly wide.

The Education Policy Institute’s (EPI) 2026 Annual Report finds that while attainment gaps for pupils on SEN support have narrowed among older age groups, gaps for children in reception year remain above pre-pandemic levels. For pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), gaps have reached their highest levels on record.

To address this, EPI is calling on Government to invest sufficiently in the workforce needed to support children with SEND, including by increasing the number of educational psychologists and speech and language therapists, and improving access to paediatric services and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

The report also recommends introducing proactive screening for SEND among at-risk groups, and adopting a ‘strengths and needs profile’ approach to assessment informed by research into how needs cluster across developmental domains.

The findings come as EPI's wider analysis shows post-pandemic progress in narrowing the socio-economic disadvantage gap has stalled or reversed across all phases of education.

The report sets out a broader set of recommendations spanning early years funding, post-16 participation, and how disadvantage is measured, alongside its SEND-specific proposals.

Comments on the Education Policy Institute’s report

Julie McCulloch, EPI's chief executive, said the educational outcomes gap was ‘a scourge on our society’, adding that the Government’s target to halve it is ‘right and welcome.’

‘However, the findings of EPI’s latest Annual Report show that, on current trends, the distance between where we are and where the Government wants to be is growing, not shrinking,’ she continued.

‘That is absolutely not a reason to abandon the target. Instead, it presents a concrete challenge to be far more exacting about the mechanisms for hitting it.’

She added that the next Prime Minister should adopt a ‘laser-like focus on whether current structures, systems and resources are enough to actually deliver it.’

Commenting on the EPI’s findings, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, chair of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Children, Young People and Families Committee, said the Government’s commitment to reduce inequality must be accompanied by ‘proper and consistent’ investment.

‘While the Child Poverty Strategy and Best Start in Life are positive steps taken by Government, these must be part of an integrated and adequately funded government-wide effort to reduce disadvantage and improve attainment, which tackles the wider public policy challenges around social security, housing and employment,’ he said.

‘To support children and young people with SEND and boost mainstream inclusion, investment in the workforce will be critical and we would like clarity from Government on how new cohorts of specialists can be attracted into the education and SEND system.’