The advent of fully comprehensive education. Raising the school leaving age to 16. The introduction of a national curriculum. Each of these reforms reflected the growing value we placed on education as a society, and the growing sense that it was critical – not just for individuals, but for the country – that each and every young person was given the best possible chance to succeed.

Opportunities to define the future of education don’t come around very often. That is the opportunity we have this week.

Over the past decade, we have seen exponential growth in the number of children with special educational needs and disabilities. And despite the best efforts of schools and teachers, our system has failed to grow with it. The result is a mismatch, with a generation of young people emerging into the world without the foundations they need for life and work.

It has to change, and this government is fiercely ambitious for children and young people with Send, but to realise that ambition, education must change. Over the past 18 months, we have carried out hundreds of hours of........

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