Trust Pathway's AI is grounded in real UK SEND law — regularly reviewed and refreshed as new Upper Tribunal decisions are published
Why now · A sector in transformation

638,700 children. £5.6bn deficits.
And no tools built for the people delivering the support.

A new Schools White Paper is rewriting the rules. £4bn in government investment is about to hit. The moment is now.

638k
Children with EHCPs
+10.8% year-on-year — Jan 2025
250%
EHCP demand increase
Since 2014 SEND reforms — IPPR
385k
Children waiting for CAMHS
Three months to March 2025 — NHS
£5.6bn
LA SEND deficit written off
February 2026 — Gov announcement
The crisis

A system under unsustainable pressure.

Every metric is moving in the wrong direction. Demand is up, capacity is down, and the workforce is burning out.

📈
Demand is exploding
  • •638,700 children now have EHCPs — 1 in 20 pupils
  • •97,700 new plans issued in 2024 (+15.8%)
  • •154,500 new assessment requests in 2024 (+11.8%)
  • •Demand up 250% since 2014 reforms

DfE Statistics, January 2025

⏳
The system cannot keep up
  • •Only 46.4% of EHCPs issued within 20-week deadline
  • •7.3% of plans take over 52 weeks
  • •25,000 tribunal appeals registered in 2024/25 — 8x increase over a decade
  • •Parents win 99% of decided cases — LA success rate just 1.3%

DfE & HM Courts and Tribunals Service

😓
The workforce is drowning
  • •70% of secondary SENCOs lack enough allocated time
  • •74–79% of SENCOs routinely pulled away from SEND duties
  • •385,540 children waiting for CAMHS first contact
  • •78,577 children waiting over 1 year for mental health treatment

nasen/Bath Spa University, NHS Digital

💰
The funding crisis forced action
  • •National SEND deficit exceeded £3 billion
  • •Projected to reach £8 billion by 2026/27
  • •50 councils had deficits larger than their entire reserves
  • •£5.6bn write-off announced February 2026

CIPFA, County Councils Network

Policy timeline

The government is restructuring SEND.

March 2023
SEND & AP Improvement Plan

Government commits to digitising EHCP processes. National standards for plans across all local authorities.

2025
Data Use & Access Act (DUAA)

Royal Assent received. Formalises children's data protections into statute. Controllers must consider "children's higher protection matters" — effectively codifying the ICO Age Appropriate Design Code.

February 2026
£5.6bn SEND deficit write-off

90% of councils' historic SEND deficits written off. 18 councils faced overnight insolvency without intervention. Statutory override extended to 2027/28.

23 February 2026
Schools White Paper published

"Every Child Achieving and Thriving" — £4bn SEND package. £1.6bn Inclusive Mainstream Fund. £1.8bn for therapists and EPs embedded in schools. Introduces Individual Support Plans (ISPs) as a new legal requirement.

May 2026
SEND consultation closes

"Putting children and young people first" — open consultation on the new SEND system. Responses shape the legal framework arriving in 2029.

September 2029
New SEND system begins

ISPs become the standard. EHCPs reserved for the most complex cases. Fully digital records. Every school must have a named SENCO with protected time.

The opportunity

Why the tools must be built now.

🔮
Digital is now a policy requirement

The DfE is building a digital EHCP system. ISPs are explicitly described as "digital records." The DUAA 2025 formalises children's data protections. Every school will need digital SEND infrastructure.

🕳️
The tools don't exist yet

LA tools (Idox, Capita) are built for caseworkers, not practitioners. US AI tools (Mentalyc, Freed) don't understand EHCPs or GAS. No tool combines AI documentation with parent engagement and cross-org sharing.

🏗️
£4bn of new money entering the system

£1.6bn Inclusive Mainstream Fund pays directly to schools for early intervention. £1.8bn embeds therapists in schools. Every penny needs tracking, outcomes, and evidence.

🎯
First movers win

The ISP spec doesn't exist yet. Platforms that build ISP-ready infrastructure now have a structural advantage when the government defines the standard. WeaveONE is already there.

The regulatory, financial, and policy environment is all moving toward digital-first, data-driven children's services — but the tools do not yet exist.

Sources: DfE Statistics 2025 · NHS Digital · CIPFA · IPPR · Schools Week · HM Courts & Tribunals Service

Be ready before the mandate.

The new SEND system arrives in 2029. The schools already using digital tools will have years of outcome data when it does.

Get Started →