Early years staff should get mandatory SEND training

An Education Committee report has recommended reforms to early years education, including mandatory SEND training for staff to spot special educational needs or disabilities early.

Research for the report highlighted the huge benefits to young children and parents if special educational needs or disabilities are spotted early and said a range of adults involved in a child’s care have a role to play in this.

The Committee argues that more  staff involved in a child's care should receive mandatory training in identifying and managing types of SEND, as it is “clearly inadequate” that only Level 3 qualified (A Level or BTEC) staff currently get this training. MPs call on the Government to amend the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework to reflect this as soon as practical.

The report also suggests that government increases the childcare entitlement subsidy for providers. As announced in the Spring Budget from September 2025, the entitlements to 30-hours “free childcare” would be extended over time to children from the age of nine months up to four years old. However, the Committee heard significant concerns that childcare entitlements have been underfunded by the Government for years, and some witnesses feared that extending the ‘free hours’ entitlement without adequate funding would see more providers go bust due to the losses they make offering the entitlement places. The Government has announced £204 million to address the current funding deficit, but the Institute for Fiscal Studies said this fails to address previous years of underfunding.

The report calls on the Department for Education (DfE) to “work closely and consistently with childcare providers and local authorities… to set the funding rate at a sufficient level.”  

DfE should stop describing the 30-hours offer as ‘free hours’ and instead refer to it as ‘funded' or 'subsidised' hours. Parents felt the ‘free’ label was misleading, as the hours were only offered in term time and providers often had to charge higher for additional hours or other consumables to make up the funding deficit.

Other recommendations include simplifying the funding system to ensure more families benefit; abolishing business rates for nurseries ; boosting staff career development; and funding family hubs across the country.