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Government will invest £200m to provide comprehensive training for everyone teacher support students special educational needs and disabilities (send).
The huge funding allocated during this parliament will see new courses developed for teachers.
These programs are designed to help educators adapt teaching methods to meet different requirements, including speech and language needs or visual impairments.
The Department for Education (DfE) has also announced new expectations for all staff in schools, colleges and nurseries to receive Send training.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Every child, no matter where they live and whatever their needs, should have the opportunity to attend a local school where they can achieve and thrive.
“That’s why we’re delivering more training on SEND and inclusion to staff at all stages of education than ever before – helping to deliver our vision of a truly inclusive education system.
“This is a key part of our mission to reform the SEND system so that schools can move children from the forgotten groups into inclusion and give parents confidence that they are getting the right support at every stage of their child’s education.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said investment in delivery training was “too important to be a one-off”.
“It remains to be seen whether this investment will be sufficient to deliver the depth and quality of training required at scale in a system of around 500,000 teachers,” he said.
“It is good in principle that all staff in every nursery, school and college receive SEND and inclusion training, but it is a difficult task and in practice it will obviously take time to achieve.”
New expectations for Send-trained teachers will be set out in the Send Code of Practice.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT School Leaders Alliance, welcomed the investment in Send training but said “training alone is not enough”.
“Both mainstream and special schools need better access to specialist staff and adequate funding,” he added.
“Pupils with additional needs often require additional adult support and schools must have sufficient resources to provide this.
“The previous government’s investment failed to keep up with rising demand, leaving families at the mercy of local authorities’ confusing postcode draws – made worse by a lack of specialists such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists in some areas.
“It is vital that the government rebuilds support services that have been destroyed during previous administrations.”
The government is expected to set out its SEND reforms in the spring in a delayed schools white paper.
In December, the Department for Education announced £3 billion would be allocated to create around 50,000 new school places for Send children.
Some of the cash will be used to create places at local mainstream schools across the country for children with Send, so they are less likely to have to travel long distances to receive an education.