The Deaf Ears of the DfE

Early years providers are being placed in an impossible position. The sector is under intense regulatory pressure from Ofsted to deliver inclusion and accessibility for all children, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. At the same time, the government relies heavily on the natural goodwill, professionalism, and moral commitment of early years staff to “make it work”, regardless of the financial reality.

That goodwill is being exploited.

One of the most significant and distressing pressures facing nursery owners and managers today is the growing number of children with SEND whom they are forced to turn away, not because they are unwilling, but because they simply cannot afford to admit them.

This is not a failure of values. It is a failure of funding.

The government’s approach to SEND in the early years should be a source of national embarrassment. An additional £1.50 per hour for a child with SEND is wholly inadequate. Even more alarming is the support for children with complex needs who require one to one care. In these cases, settings receive just £6.50 per hour.

This does not come close to covering the cost of employing staff, even at National Minimum Wage, let alone the National Living Wage that experienced and skilled practitioners rightly deserve. It also ignores the additional training, emotional labour, and responsibility involved in supporting children with complex needs safely and effectively.

This sits within a wider funding crisis. The hourly rate paid for so called “free” childcare is, on average, almost 150 percent underfunded. In many areas, settings receive around £5.21 per hour for places that cost £9 to £10 per hour to deliver. When core provision is already loss making, expecting settings to absorb the additional costs of SEND support is unrealistic and unfair.

The result is a system that causes unwilling discrimination.

Settings are devastated when they have to say no to families. Early years professionals do not enter this sector to exclude children. They do it because they believe in inclusion, early intervention, and giving every child the best possible start. Yet current government policy makes genuine inclusion financially impossible for many providers.

The solution is not complicated.

Fund SEND properly. At a minimum, funding must cover the National Living Wage for required staffing levels, alongside additional grants for specialist equipment, training, and environmental adaptations. Only then can settings admit children with SEND confidently, safely, and sustainably.

Until this happens, the government’s SEND policy in the early years will continue to force providers into decisions that go against their values, their professional judgement, and the very principles of inclusion that regulators demand.

This is not a sector failing children. It is a funding system that is.