Learnings from the NELI programme are helping the government deliver its new plan to create an improved special educational needs (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) system that provides better services for young people and their families.
Part of the plan includes establishing new National Standards which will set out what support will be provided to families and who will provide and pay for it.
The delivery of National Standards will be backed by three new SEND and AP guides for professionals to ensure children and young people get the right support, in the right place and at the right time. The guides will build on existing best practice, including from NELI, and be published by the end of 2025 by the Department of Education.
NELI targets children aged four and five who need extra support with their speech and language development. It is proven to help them make around three months of additional progress and is now available in more than 11,000 primary schools in England, benefitting tens of thousands of pupils. NELI grew from Nuffield-funded research and development undertaken by researchers at various universities.
Our Director of Education Josh Hillman said: “This is yet more evidence of the impact and influence NELI continues to have. We’re proud to see it being used by the government to develop these important guides which will help more young children improve their language skills.”
The new guides are just one part of the government’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published earlier this month. It proposes a ‘generational change’ that will establish a single national system to deliver consistent, high-quality provision for every child and young person with SEND and in alternative provision.
