Defend children’s rights – empower their future

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Donate to IPSEA to strengthen our work defending the legal rights of children with SEND

At IPSEA, we are fighting to protect the legal rights which children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) rely on to access the education they need.

Following publication of the Schools White Paper, IPSEA has carefully reviewed the Government’s proposals for reforming the SEND system and their potential implications for children and young people. Our analysis suggests that several important legal protections could be weakened, including:

The right to provision based on a child’s individual needs
The right to enforceable provision
The right to an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and plan
The right for parents to request and secure a specific school or college placement
The right to provision for children and young people outside mainstream settings

Legally enforceable protections play a vital role in helping children and young people with SEND get the educational provision they need. We must ensure that any reform strengthens, not weakens, the legal foundations on which children and young people with SEND depend.

With your support, we will work to:

Expertly defend the legal rights which entitle children and young people to an education that meets their individual needs
Influence government policy to strengthen, not diminish, SEND legal rights
Campaign loudly and proudly to ensure the lived experiences of children, young people and families are heard
Empower families to understand what's at stake and to share their experiences with the Government

Together, we can work to protect and strengthen the legal rights of children and young people with SEND.

Donate now

A word from IPSEA’s Chief Executive, Madeleine Cassidy:

"For over 40 years, IPSEA has been a trusted voice defending the legal rights of children and young people with SEND. Today, that voice is needed more than ever.

As the Government proposes significant changes to the SEND system, there’s a real risk that decades of progress could be undone - that children and young people will lose hard-won legal rights to an education that truly meets their needs. We must ensure that proposals for SEND reform continue to meet individual needs and are firmly underpinned by enforceable legal rights.

Your donations help us to analyse and respond to the Government’s SEND reform proposals in detail, strengthen our voice, and publicly campaign for a system that remains grounded in clear legal rights. With your support, IPSEA will continue to play a leading role in protecting and strengthening the rights of children and young people with SEND across England. Please donate today"

Legal rights matter because they:

Require that children and young people receive an education that meets their individual needs
Place clear duties on local authorities to assess needs and provide the support required
Protect against exclusion or discrimination
Give families the power to challenge unlawful decisions

Choose your gift

Please select a donation amount (required)

£10

could help us give expert legal input and evidence to government and sector discussions

£25

could help us defend the SEND legal framework in the media

£50

could help us to strengthen our parliamentary work with MPs and policy-makers

£100

could help us deliver free webinars empowering families to understand potential reform

£1,000

could help boost our legal team’s capacity to provide expert analysis and respond to proposed reforms

Other

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Every donation makes a difference

£10 could help us give expert legal input and evidence to government and sector discussions
£25 could help us defend the SEND legal framework in the media
£50 could help us to strengthen our parliamentary work with MPs and policy-makers
£100 could help us deliver free webinars empowering families to understand potential reform
£1,000 could help boost our legal team’s capacity to provide expert analysis and respond to proposed reforms