Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
5th Report - Solving the SEND Crisis
Education Committee
HC 492
Published 18 September 2025
Government response
7th Special Report - Solving the SEND Crisis: Government Response · published 11 Dec 2025
Recommendations & Conclusions
42
Conclusion
Rejected
Reform post-16 funding condition for mandatory GCSE English and maths resits.
Conclusion
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 …
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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.
Department for Education
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45
Conclusion
Rejected
Introduce dedicated ring-fenced funding stream for post-16 SEN support in further education.
Conclusion
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 …
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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.
Department for Education
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