Government ambitions to make mainstream schools more inclusive risk falling short unless the uneven distribution of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is tackled, new research warns.

A report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), funded by the Nuffield Foundation, has found that pupils with SEND are increasingly concentrated in a small number of mainstream schools, placing unsustainable pressure on those settings while others develop little expertise in inclusion.

The proportion of pupils identified with SEND has risen sharply, from 14.4% in 2015/16 to 19.5% in 2024/25 – yet fewer than one in five schools say they can meet the needs of all pupils on their roll. Primary schools with the highest rates of pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) had, on average, six times as many as those with the lowest.

The Government's Schools White Paper set out an expectation that every mainstream school should meet a wider range of need, with legislation planned through the proposed Education for All Bill. However, NFER warns this ambition will be difficult to realise while responsibility remains concentrated in so few schools.

Responding to the findings, Cllr Amanda Hopgood, chair of the Local Government Association's Children, Young People and Families Committee, called for Ofsted's inspection framework to place greater focus on inclusive practice and whether schools meet the needs of their local community.

‘Those schools that are not playing a meaningful role in supporting vulnerable children, including those with SEND and who are care-experienced, should be held to account for their lack of action,’ she said.

The NFER is recommending that policymakers monitor the local distribution of SEND pupils and review funding to better reflect differing levels of need across schools.