Letter to Georgia Gould MP, Minister of State for School Standards

12 February 2026

• SEND Reform

Dear Georgia Gould MP,  

We are the Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE) Coalition for Inclusive Education. We are writing to you because we are deeply concerned about a number of important issues ALLFIE has repeatedly raised but remain unaddressed. Such issues include a range of barriers that push Disabled children and young people out of mainstream education which, in turn, limits their current and future opportunities.

Our concerns are:

• Disabled children are regularly placed in separate classes such as Special Education Needs (SEN) units, within a mainstream school. Many spend up to 80% of their school day in these units. They are less likely to be taught by qualified teachers and less likely to follow the national curriculum. SEN units are not schools and therefore Disabled children are treated differently from their peers in these mainstream settings. This is discriminatory and denies Disabled children and young people their human rights.
• The continual building of new special schools reinforces segregation and societal inequality. Disabled children and young people, particularly individuals labelled with ‘complex needs’, are often placed in these settings with little expectation of positive future outcomes.
• The use of force, restraint, and seclusion in educational settings is a form of violence against Disabled children and young people and must be outlawed.
• There is a clear bias in funding structures towards segregated provision, alongside cuts to mainstream schools and colleges. This funding could be used to support the enrolment of Disabled children and young people into mainstream setting.
• A growing number of Disabled children are out of school and not accessing education. This is a breach of the law and affects Disabled children far more than their non-Disabled peers.
• Local Authorities are failing to hold schools to account for not making reasonable adjustments. These failures remove necessary support and push Disabled children and young people out of mainstream education altogether.
• Disabled children and young people face significant barriers to assessments and exams compared to their peers, widening the academic attainment gap. For instance, in 2021, 13.3% of Disabled people aged 21 to 64 had no qualifications, compared to 4.6% of non-Disabled people (Office for National Statistics, 2021).
• Failure to withdraw reservations and fully implement Article 24 (on Inclusive Education) of the UN Convention on The Rights of Persons with Disabilities into domestic law.

We would like assurance from your department that our concerns pertaining to systemic and structural barriers will be addressed within the upcoming Schools White Paper. We would like to discuss the concerns raised within this letter with you further at one of our Coalition meetings.

We hope you accept our invitation and look forward to your reply.

Your Sincerely,

ALLFIE Coalition for Inclusive Education
Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE)
Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education
Disability Rights UK
Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People
Inclusion London
Mel Ainscow
People First
No More Exclusions
Sharon Smith as Parent Carer
World of Inclusion