Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
5th Report - Solving the SEND Crisis
Education Committee
HC 492
Published 18 September 2025
Conclusions (2)
42
Conclusion
Rejected
The post-16 condition of funding, whereby students who have not achieved a grade 4 or above in GCSE English and maths are effectively repeatedly required to take GCSE resits in those subjects as part of their programme of study, must be reformed. Despite a modest rise in overall attainment over …
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the need to reform the post-16 English and maths resit policy, stating that students must continue to be supported under the condition of funding, and will strengthen this requirement for 2025/26 by setting minimum teaching hours and reducing the provider opt-out tolerance.
45
Conclusion
Rejected
The Department for Education should introduce a dedicated and ring- fenced funding stream for SEN support beyond the age of 16. This would enable further education providers to recruit and retain specialist staff, provide tailored learning resources, and make the reasonable adjustments necessary to meet the diverse needs of learners …
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation for a dedicated and ring-fenced funding stream for post-16 SEN support, instead highlighting existing overall increases in unringfenced schools and high needs funding, and the unringfenced nature of high needs capital funding for local authorities.