Lack of specialist staff hinders support for Send children, teacher survey finds

National Education Union poll finds 89% feel class sizes in England are too big to be ‘properly inclusive’ Oversized classes and inadequate staffing levels are hindering teachers’ capacity to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send), according to a large survey of state school teachers in England. Nine out of 10 (89%) of the 10,000 teachers who took part in the poll by the National Education Union (NEU), before its annual conference in Brighton which starts on Monday, said class sizes were too big to be “properly inclusive”. Four out of five (83%) said insufficient numbers of support staff in the classroom created a barrier to inclusion, while seven out of 10 (69%) said lack of access to specialist services was also a problem. One teacher described the plight of a pupil trapped on a waiting list. “I have a suicidal boy in my class who is on a six-month waitlist just to be ‘seen’ by a specialist,” they said. “How can this be?” Just one in five (22%) respondents said they were confident that referring a pupil for Send assessment, diagnosis or support would get them the help they need, while nine in 10 (88%) said an “inappropriate” curriculum was a barri

Mar 29, 2026 → Apr 15, 2026