On 23 February 2026, the government set out plans for a radical expansion in rights for children with SEND.
The direction of travel is clear. Schools will be expected to do more than offer support in principle. They will need to show that support more clearly, more consistently, and in a way that can be understood by families, leaders, and inspectors.
The government said it will create a new legal requirement for schools to create individual support plans for all children with SEND. It also said EHCPs will remain for children who need more intensive or complex support. The official announcement is on GOV.UK: Radical expansion in rights for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
That matters because the whole workflow around SEND becomes more visible when the entitlement becomes broader. A school cannot rely on broad language, memory, or a few scattered notes if the expectation is a current support plan that can be checked and reviewed.
> If every child with SEND has a formal support plan, the quality of the live record becomes part of the support itself, not just the admin around it.
What the government has said so far
The February announcement and the schools white paper point to a few important changes.
every child with SEND will have an individual support plan
those plans will draw from a national framework of high-quality interventions
EHCPs will stay in place for pupils with more intensive or complex needs
transitional protections are intended to stop children losing effective support already in place
the wider aim is to make support easier to access, clearer to understand, and more consistent across settings
The details will keep developing. Schools do not need to pretend every line is settled. But they do need to notice the direction.
The direction is away from loosely recorded support and toward a more explicit, more structured, more accountable model.
Why this changes the record-keeping job
A bigger entitlement brings a bigger evidence burden.
That does not mean schools need to drown staff in paperwork. It does mean the record has to be good enough to answer a few basic questions quickly:
What support is currently in place?
What problem is it meant to address?
What has changed since the last review?
What did the pupil and family say?
What happens next if support is not enough?
If those answers live in separate inboxes, old Word files, and meeting notes, the school will spend too much time rebuilding the story.
That is where a school can lose momentum. Not because staff do not care. Because the process is too fragile.
MeritDocs keeps SEND documents in one searchable hub, so staff can filter by pupil, see what is current, and export when needed. That matters more when schools are expected to show a clear support plan for every child with SEND, because the live record has to be easy to trust.
What schools should make visible now
Even before the final detail lands, schools can tighten the parts that are most likely to matter.
1. One current plan per pupil
Schools should know exactly where the live plan lives.
If staff still have to ask which version is current, the system is already weaker than it should be. The current plan should show the support, the review date, the named owner, and the next action in one place.
2. A clear link between need and support
A support plan is only useful if it explains why the support exists.
It should show the need that is being addressed, the adjustments being used, and the intended outcome. That makes it easier for a new teacher, a senior leader, or a receiving school to understand the pupil quickly.
3. Impact, not just activity
The next stage of SEND support will place even more weight on what is working.
A long list of interventions is not the same as an evidence trail. Schools should capture what happened, what changed, and what was decided next.
4. Pupil and parent voice
If the government wants support to be more personalised, then pupil and parent voice cannot sit at the edge of the file.
The live record should show what the family said, what the pupil said when that is appropriate, and how the school responded.
5. Review dates that are easy to see
A support plan that no one can see clearly is already late.
Review dates need to be visible in the record, not hidden in a note or a calendar only one person can see. That is basic good practice now. It will matter even more if individual support plans become the normal model.
What school leaders should do this term
This is the practical response.
**Map the current record types.**
List every SEND document the school uses now. Note where it lives, who edits it, and who reads it.
**Decide what the current record is.**
Every pupil should have one live source of truth. Old versions can exist for history, but they should not compete with the live plan.
**Standardise the core fields.**
Review date, support area, owner, next action, impact note, and family voice should not be optional extras.
**Make exports simple.**
The receiving teacher, SENCO, MAT leader, or external professional should be able to see the same current picture without a long reconstruction exercise.
**Check whether your evidence trail would make sense to a stranger.**
If a new member of staff could not understand the pupil in two minutes, the record needs work.
MeritDocs helps schools run this properly by keeping SEND documents in one place, with current information easier to find, review dates visible, and exports straightforward. The real gain is not just speed. It is a record people can actually rely on when the support model becomes more explicit.
What this means for leaders in practice
The schools that will cope best are not the ones with the most paperwork.
They are the ones with the clearest current record.
That record makes review easier. It makes handover easier. It makes family communication easier. It also makes it far easier for leaders to explain what the school is doing and why.
In other words, the policy shift does not only change SEND support. It changes what good administration looks like.
If schools wait until the last minute, they will end up trying to standardise support while also trying to teach, manage behaviour, and deal with parent questions. That is exactly when records become messy.
FAQ
Is this the end of EHCPs?
No. The government has said EHCPs will remain for pupils who need more intensive or complex support. The new model is meant to sit alongside them, not replace them.
Is this already law?
Not in full. The February announcement and white paper set the direction and the government’s intent. Schools should treat it as a serious policy shift, but not assume every detail is already in force.
What should schools do first?
Start with the live record. If staff cannot quickly see what support is current, who owns it, and when it is due to be reviewed, the school is not ready for a more explicit support model.
Do schools need a brand new system?
Not necessarily. But they do need one dependable source of truth. If the current process is fragmented, a better system will matter quickly.
The takeaway
The new SEND rights package points toward a more visible and more structured system.
That is good for families, but it raises the bar for schools. Support will need to be clear enough to understand, current enough to trust, and complete enough to stand up to scrutiny.
Schools that already keep the live record in good order will be in a strong position. Schools that still rely on scattered files and memory will feel the pressure first.
MeritDocs gives schools that live record, so individual support can be managed as a practical workflow rather than a scramble every time the policy moves on.