Educational Psychologist Shortage Puts SEND Reforms at Risk
A new report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has issued a stark warning to the government, highlighting a chronic shortage of educational psychologists (EPs) that could severely undermine ambitions for more inclusive mainstream schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The research underscores significant regional disparities, with some areas having as few as one educational psychologist for every 9,400 pupils, and suggests official workforce data may be undercounting the true scale of the problem by approximately one third.
Expert Warnings and Urgent Calls for Action
Experts, including Pepe Di’Iasio from the Association of School and College Leaders, have emphasised the urgency of these findings. Di’Iasio stated that this critical shortage could derail the Government’s plans for SEND reform, calling for immediate ministerial intervention to address the escalating crisis. The EPI estimates that to bring 96 under-resourced local authorities up to adequate levels, an additional 1,400 educational psychologists are required. This represents a substantial 40 per cent increase in the workforce, with an estimated cost of around £140 million to implement effectively.
Insufficient Training Places and Delivery Timelines
Despite the pressing need for more educational psychologists, government-funded training places remain woefully inadequate. For the 2025/26 academic year, only just over 200 training positions were available, a number considered insufficient to meet both the immediate needs of children and the government’s ambitious three-year delivery timeline for SEND reforms. This shortfall in training capacity further exacerbates the workforce crisis, threatening the viability of inclusive education initiatives and leaving many vulnerable students without essential support.
The EPI report paints a concerning picture of a system under strain, where geographic inequalities in access to educational psychologists could hinder progress toward more equitable and inclusive schooling. Without swift and decisive action to boost recruitment and training, the government’s reform agenda risks being compromised, potentially affecting thousands of children with special educational needs across the country.
