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For ages, I was desperate to create a documentary about Send.

Perhaps you recognize me from Linda Carter, but I'm also a mum to an neurodivergent son diagnosed with dyslexic traits and ADHD.

Required months of perseverance and hard work from both of us to obtain the right schooling for him. At times, it seemed like a struggle.

This is the reason I decided to create this film, so I could connect with other families going through the similar situation, and speak to educators, councils, and the ministry about how children with special needs are supported in the UK.

The Scope of Send in the UK

Currently, there are more than 1.7 million young people in England with special educational needs. It is a broad group, encompassing those on the autism spectrum and people who face challenges in communication, have ADHD, and physical disabilities, along with other needs.

Educational institutions in England already provide some support to these pupils, but if families believe their child requires additional support, they can apply to their council for an EHCP.

An EHCP is a vital document because it is legally binding, specifies where a pupil should attend, and outlines how much additional help they should get.

My husband and I spent hours filling in the application forms to apply for an EHCP, and numerous parents describe the process extremely challenging.

Buddy and Tunde

Shortly after I meet 15-year-old the young man, he presents his favourite cuddly toy, his comfort object.

Buddy's autistic, which means his brain processes and reacts to the world in a different way from others. He struggles with meeting people his own age, understanding his emotions, and nervousness. He likes to keep his toy nearby.

After moving to the capital from north of the border in October 2024, his mother, the parent, began searching for educational placements. She explains she contacted at least 11 institutions, but several didn't get back to her, and the ones that replied said they were full or were unable to give Buddy extra support without an Education, Health and Care Plan.

At the start of this year, over 638,000 EHCPs had been granted to students in the country, a 10.8% rise on the previous year and an substantial growth in six years.

The increase is in part because families and educators have got better at identifying pupils who have special educational needs, especially autism, as opposed to there being an increase with Send.

It is the repeat Buddy and Tunde have applied for an plan. Their initial request was rejected before Buddy was evaluated. Local authorities decline about a 25% of EHCP applications at the assessment stage, as per official figures.

When they lived in the Scottish system, Tunde notes they were not required to apply for the equivalent of an Education, Health and Care Plan. Buddy's comprehensive school provided support for his academic needs, but not for his well-being.

Scotland has a different system for supporting pupils with special needs; educational institutions aim to offer more support without the need for families to apply for the equivalent of an plan.

"It's a madness," she states. "[Getting extra support] was so easily done, and it could be easily done again."

Although the teenager is not able to attend classes, the council is providing him with nearly 20 hours of lessons per week in the community library.

The mother explains the procedure of applying for an EHCP has been so demanding she had to stop working as a midwife and health visitor for a period.

"I am unable to do the parenting. I can't get him to these sessions, and be employed at the identical time… I couldn't get my son seen in the right amount of time and see patients' infants in the necessary period. It became a difficult choice - and he prevailed," she says.

I reconnect with the youth after a long speech and language evaluation.

"Exhausting… that is the only word I have for you," he says as he leans against a fence, Reindeer Dog held close.

A School for the Teenager

As autumn begins and while millions children start term, Buddy is continuing to be educated in the public library. 60 days after I first met him, he's getting an Education, Health and Care Plan but his education is yet to be resolved.

The council agreed to the mother's appeal that he go to an independently run institution that works with children who struggle in standard education.

Before he can begin there, the school has already taken over the sessions he gets in the library. But the parent's currently uncertain the school will be able to deliver what she believes her son needs to improve his social skills and self-assurance with peers his own age.

"We were fully ready for the start of term… and he remains without a school place, he's still having individual lessons," she stated.

"In my view … preparing to be with fellow students and then still only having one-to-one with instructors has set him back and made him be reluctant to go to school."

The local authority states it views Tunde's concerns with utmost importance and it will continue to support her household to ensure they receive the support they require without additional waiting.

Officials note it knows how hard it can be for parents to manage the process, and how distressing holdups in securing support can be.

The council adds it has allocated funds in a dedicated support team, and currently guarantees pupils are evaluated by specialist teachers at the earliest stage, and it is willing to reviewing the situation when families are concerned about education placements.

The Current System is Failing

I know there is a different perspective to this issue.

The huge rise in the number of EHCPs is placing local authorities under severe financial pressure. According to projections that English councils are set to accumulate a combined special needs shortfall of £4.3bn and £4.9bn by spring 2026.

Ministers states it has invested a billion pounds to help councils pay for plans and additional funds on new Send school places.

I traveled to West Sussex County Council to speak with among the few people in local government willing to talk to me on the record about special needs financing.

The councillor is a Conservative councillor and official for children, young people and learning.

"The current system is actually highly confrontational. Families are more and more tired and anxious and fed up of battling… Staff sickness levels are really, really high at the moment," she explains.

"This system doesn't work. It has failed. It's not delivering the optimal results for children."

The need for EHCPs is now exceeding funding in West Sussex. In 2015, the authority had about 3,400 children with an EHCP. Today there are over 10,000.

Consequently the special needs budget gap has been increasing annually, so that at the conclusion of the fiscal year it stands at more than £123m.

"That [money] is primarily intended for community resources. {That would have|