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For a long time, I've been desperate to produce a documentary focusing on Send.

You might recognize me from Linda Carter, but I'm also a mum to an autistic child who also has dyslexic traits and ADHD.

Required many months of perseverance and hard work from my husband and I to secure the appropriate education for him. At times, it felt like a battle.

That is why I wanted to create this documentary, so I could connect with other families experiencing the same thing, and speak to teachers, local authorities, and the ministry about how Send children are supported in the UK.

The Scope of Send in England

There are more than 1.7 million young people in the country with special educational needs. This represents a wide-ranging category, encompassing those on the autism spectrum and individuals who struggle with speech and language, have ADHD, and mobility issues, among other conditions.

Schools in the UK do offer some support to these students, but if parents think their son or daughter requires additional support, they can apply to their local council for an EHCP.

An EHCP is a crucial document because it is legally binding, states where a pupil should go to school, and details how much extra support they should get.

My husband and I spent countless hours filling in the forms to request an EHCP, and numerous parents describe the procedure extremely challenging.

A Mother and Son's Journey

Shortly after I encounter teenage the young man, he presents his favourite stuffed animal, Reindeer Dog.

He is on the autism spectrum, which means his mind processes and reacts to the world in a different way from others. He faces difficulties in meeting people his own age, managing his emotions, and anxiety. He likes to keep his toy close to him.

Following their move to London from north of the border in October 2024, his mother, Tunde, began searching for educational placements. She says she contacted at least 11 institutions, but several failed to respond, and those that did said they were full or could not give her son extra support without an EHCP.

By the beginning of the current year, over 638,000 EHCPs had been granted to children and young people in the country, a significant increase on the previous year and an substantial growth in six years.

The increase is partly because parents and schools have got better at identifying children who have special educational needs, especially autism spectrum disorder, as opposed to there being an increase with special needs.

It is the repeat the family have sought an EHCP. Their first application was rejected before he was assessed. Councils decline about a 25% of requests at the assessment stage, according to official figures.

When they lived in Scotland, Tunde notes they were not required to apply for the equivalent of an Education, Health and Care Plan. His comprehensive school provided assistance for his learning, although not for his emotional needs.

The Scottish system has a different system for supporting pupils with special needs; educational institutions strive to deliver greater assistance without the need for families to seek the equivalent of an EHCP.

"It's a madness," Tunde says. "[Getting extra support] was straightforward, and it could be simple to repeat."

Although Buddy is not able to go to school, the council is offering him with 19 hours of tuition per week in the local library.

The mother explains the process of seeking an plan has been so demanding she had to stop working as a birth attendant and health visitor for a time.

"I am unable to do the parenting. I cannot take him to these appointments, and be employed at the identical time… I was unable to get my son seen in the right amount of time and attend to patients' infants in the necessary period. It became a difficult choice - and he won," she comments.

We catch up with the youth after a long speech and language evaluation.

"Draining… that's all I have for you," he remarks as he leans against a fence, Reindeer Dog tucked under his arm.

A School for Buddy

As autumn begins and while countless children start term, he is still be educated in the library. 60 days after I first met him, he's getting an Education, Health and Care Plan but his education is still not settled.

The council approved the mother's request that he attend an independently run school that works with children who struggle in mainstream schools.

Before he can start there, the school has assumed responsibility for the lessons he receives in the library. But the parent's currently uncertain the place will be able to provide what she thinks her child requires to enhance his social skills and confidence with peers his own age.

"We had been all prepared for the start of term… and he's still without a school place, he continues to receive one-to-one lessons," she said.

"In my view … preparing to be with other kids and then still just being solo with adults has set him back and caused him to be reluctant to go to school."

The local authority states it takes Tunde's concerns very seriously and it will keep assist her household to ensure they obtain the provision they require without additional waiting.

Officials note it understands how hard it can be for families to navigate the system, and how upsetting holdups in obtaining help can be.

It says it has allocated funds in a specialist support team, and now ensures pupils are evaluated by expert educators at the earliest stage, and it is willing to reviewing the situation when families are concerned about school placements.

Existing Framework is Broken

I am aware there is another side to this issue.

The significant increase in the quantity of Education, Health and Care Plans is placing councils under severe financial pressure. It is estimated that English councils are set to accumulate a total accumulated special needs shortfall between £4.3bn and £4.9bn by March 2026.

Ministers says it has committed a significant sum to assist councils pay for plans and further investment on new Send school places.

I traveled to West Sussex County Council to speak with among the few officials in public service prepared to talk to me publicly about special needs financing.

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

"The current system is actually highly confrontational. Families are increasingly tired and worried and fed up of fighting… Employee absence rates are really, really high at the present time," she explains.

"The current system is ineffective. It has failed. It's not delivering the optimal results for children."

Demand for EHCPs is now outstripping funding in West Sussex. In a decade ago, the authority had about 3,400 pupils with an EHCP. Today there are more than 10,000.

As a result the Send deficit has been growing year-on-year, so that at the conclusion of the fiscal year it reaches more than £123m.

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