A system under sustained pressure

The SEND system is facing increasing demand, rising complexity, and growing expectations.

• The number of EHCPs has risen significantly
• Only around 46% are issued within statutory timeframes
• Tribunal appeals have increased sharply, with the majority decided in favour of parents
• Local authority costs continue to escalate, alongside transport and placement pressures

At the same time, schools and services are being asked to deliver more inclusive provision within mainstream settings, while managing increasing levels of need.

This has created a system that is difficult to coordinate, difficult to evidence, and inconsistent in delivery.

Fragmentation is the core challenge

Support for a child typically involves multiple professionals — schools, local authorities, therapists, and families.

In practice, delivery is spread across disconnected systems:

• Provision is recorded in different places, often retrospectively
• There is limited real-time visibility of what is actually being delivered
• Outcomes are difficult to link to specific interventions
• Insight is fragmented across stakeholders

This makes it difficult to answer fundamental questions:

• What support is the child receiving?
• Are they engaging with it?
• Is it making a difference?

As a result, issues are often identified late — once absence, escalation, or placement breakdown has already occurred.

The impact on children

Where support is delayed, inconsistent or poorly coordinated, the consequences are direct:

• Gaps in learning
• Reduced engagement
• Periods of absence from education

Critically, the system lacks real-time visibility of a child’s experience — whether they are progressing, disengaging, or at risk.

This limits the ability to intervene early and effectively.

Reform is raising expectations

The direction of SEND reform is clear.

Policy is moving towards a system that is:

• More inclusive within mainstream education
• Based on earlier and more consistent intervention
• Structured through tiered support models
• Underpinned by digital Individual Support Plans
• Stronger on evidence and accountability

This represents a shift from describing provision to demonstrating impact.

The delivery gap

While the policy direction is clear, the system does not yet have the infrastructure to deliver it at scale.

To meet these expectations, institutions need to be able to:

• Deliver provision in a structured way
• Track support as it happens
• Coordinate input from multiple professionals
• Generate clear, defensible evidence of impact

This capability does not currently exist consistently across the system.

A moment of opportunity

The current reform agenda creates a clear requirement:

• Structured delivery of SEND provision
• Consistent tracking of support
• Evidence of outcomes across settings

For schools, trusts and local authorities, this is not just a policy shift — it is an operational one.

It requires a move from fragmented processes to coordinated infrastructure.

From reform to delivery

The challenge is no longer defining what good looks like.

It is building the systems that make it possible to deliver it — consistently, visibly, and at scale.

Bloom exists to meet that need.