We call on the UK Government and Parliament to ensure that children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) who require specialist education have genuine access to the same range of GCSE subject opportunities as their mainstream peers.

Children with SEND should not have their academic choices and future career opportunities restricted simply because they require a specialist educational setting.

Many SEND schools and specialist provisions offer pupils a limited range of GCSE subjects, often focusing primarily on core subjects. This can mean that a young person who has the ability, interest and ambition to study a particular subject is unable to do so because their school does not offer it.

This can have a significant impact on their future.

A child may want to study PE, Triple Science, Geography, Construction, a language or another subject because it is relevant to the college course, university degree or career they hope to pursue. However, if their specialist school does not offer that GCSE, there may be no realistic alternative available to them.

They may then be told that they can study the subject when they reach college.

Why should a child with SEND have to wait until college to access opportunities that their mainstream peers can access at GCSE level?

Our experience

My 13-year-old son is currently in Year 9 and has an EHCP.

He started secondary school in mainstream education. Unfortunately, he experienced significant difficulties within that environment and eventually had to leave mainstream education.

He subsequently moved to a local Educational Diversity provision. Since being there, he has excelled in his learning and has shown just how capable he is when he is in an environment that understands and supports his needs.

This has allowed him to rebuild his confidence in education and, importantly, start thinking about his future.

As he has progressed through Year 9, we have begun having conversations about his GCSEs and what he would like to do after school.

My son has ambitions.

He wants to go to college and study Sports Science. He is passionate about sport and science and wants to build a future around those interests.

For that pathway, he would like to study GCSE PE and Triple Science.

However, because he requires SEND provision, those subjects are not available to him in the specialist settings we are being offered.

We pursued an EHCP because we wanted to ensure that his additional needs were properly recognised and supported while also allowing him to continue progressing academically.

He now has an EHCP, and we are trying to find an appropriate mainstream placement that can meet his needs.

However, we are being told that mainstream schools are unable to meet the requirements of his EHCP.

We are therefore looking at specialist SEND schools and provisions, including a potential private autistic school.

Yet again, we are finding that the GCSE choices available to him are significantly restricted.

This leaves us in an impossible position:

Mainstream education may not be able to meet his SEND needs.

Specialist education may be able to meet his SEND needs but may not offer the GCSE subjects he needs for his future.

And ultimately, my son is the one who loses out.

This is bigger than one child

This petition is not asking for special treatment for my son.

It is asking for equal opportunity for children with SEND.

I understand that specialist schools cannot reasonably be expected to provide every GCSE subject. They have staffing, funding, facilities and other practical constraints.

But there must be a better solution.

Where a specialist setting cannot provide a GCSE that is appropriate for a pupil, there should be a properly funded and accessible pathway for that pupil to study the subject through another school, college or education provider.

A child’s SEND placement should not automatically determine which academic subjects they are able to study.

An EHCP should support a child’s needs and help them achieve their potential. It should not unintentionally become a barrier to their aspirations.

What we are calling for

We are calling on the Government to:

Guarantee that children with SEND have meaningful access to an appropriate range of GCSE subjects, regardless of whether they attend mainstream or specialist education.
Create a national framework for specialist schools and mainstream schools and colleges to work together, allowing SEND pupils to access GCSE subjects that their specialist setting cannot provide.
Ensure that EHCPs take account of a child’s academic and career aspirations, alongside their additional support needs.
Provide appropriate funding and resources so that specialist SEND pupils can access GCSE subjects required for their intended college, university or career pathway.
Prevent a child’s educational placement from unnecessarily restricting their future opportunities.
Require local authorities and education providers to identify alternative pathways when a specialist school cannot offer a GCSE subject that is appropriate for the pupil.
Review the current national approach to GCSE provision for SEND pupils to ensure that children with additional needs are not systematically disadvantaged compared with their mainstream peers.
Every child deserves the chance to pursue their ambitions

Children with SEND already face significant barriers within education.

They should not then face another barrier simply because the school that can meet their additional needs does not offer the academic subjects they are capable of studying.

My son is 13.

Despite the challenges he has faced within education, he is now doing well. He is learning, progressing and thinking positively about his future.

He wants to study Sports Science.

He should not be told that because he requires specialist education, he cannot take the GCSEs that would help him get there.

SEND children deserve support, but they also deserve opportunity.

They deserve to be encouraged to aim high, not have their ambitions lowered because of the education setting they require.

We are asking Parliament to recognise this inequality and take action to ensure that no child’s SEND needs become a barrier to accessing the GCSE subjects they are capable of studying and need to pursue their chosen future.

Sign this petition if you believe that a child’s additional needs should determine the support they receive — not the size of their ambitions.