In England, a vertical equity model of inclusive schooling has been increasingly visible in both educational policy and school practices since the 2019 education reforms. Within this mixed model of provision, alongside and in complementarity to mainstream schooling, alternative provision (AP) and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)…

The social inclusion of learners with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools has been a dominant discourse in global education and academic research. Concerns have been raised globally, and in England, that learners with SEN underachieve compared with non-SEN learners. Studies have linked challenges faced by learners with SEN to…

Little is known about the long-term outcomes of students who attend alternative provision (AP) settings. This study set out to analyse data published by the Department for Education which presents long-term education and employment outcomes for school pupils in England. After making comparisons by type of setting at the national level, this…

My research investigates the experiences of a range of professionals tasked with the role of enacting a policy aimed at achieving social justice. In a drive where one of the priorities was aimed at reducing exclusions from mainstream schools, some participants report feelings of being marginalised and excluded from the policy process. This paper…

This paper reports on the findings of a BERA-funded small-scale project that explores the impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns on the educational experiences of autistic children and young people who attend mainstream schools and their parents/carers in England. We observe that, unsurprisingly, lockdown resulted in associated stresses for families.…

In England, the term 'multi-sensory impairment' (MSI) has come to overlap with other labels, which is problematic for both research and practice. We undertook a scoping review of empirical studies conducted in England over the past 20 years on MSI and overlapping labels. We designed and used a review protocol and combined multiple searching…

For some children and young people (CYP) with long-term physical health conditions (LTPHCs) attending school can be difficult. There is a lack of evidence documenting their school attendance experiences, how schools manage absence for these children, and subsequent effects. This study utilised an existing dataset from eighty-nine 11-18-year-olds…

The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) landscape in England is bleak. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of pupils with SEND has increased. There is a shortage of places available in specialist SEND provision, and many pupils with SEND are being educated in alternative provision settings which arguably do not meet their needs.…

This paper reflects on the findings of two studies one completed in 2010 and another in 2019, which employed Q-methodology and post Q-sort semi-structured interviews to an investigation of teachers', in the West Midlands, perspectives of the inclusion agenda. The findings of the 2019 study, demonstrate commonality of findings with that carried out…

Aim: This systematic literature review aims to explore the effectiveness of school-wide interventions in reducing disciplinary exclusion from mainstream secondary schools. Rationale: In England, head teachers have government support to use exclusion as a disciplinary sanction if deemed necessary (Department for Education, 2017a). Research has…

Given the current context of the experience of migration on schools in England and Europe, and the competing policies and approaches to social integration in schools, there is a need to understand the connection between language development and social integration as a basis for promoting appropriate policies and practices. This volume explores the…

Parental choice remains a central theme in education policy in England. Parents have the right to choose how their children are educated. For some families this choice is surrendered, with volition and intention, to their local authority which allocates school places after parents, statutory guardians and families have made their decisions. Where…

This study explored the schooling experiences of secondary-aged pupils with and without SEND attending three mainstream schools in England. Thirty-seven young adolescents with SEND and eight without agreed to be interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed the challenges these young adolescents with SEND encountered to feel included in their schools…

This study presents a Bakhtinian analysis of discourse among children with Special Educational Needs and Disorders (SEND) in two elementary classrooms, delving into the complicated interaction of voices and perspectives within their communication. The research investigates how the evaluation of peers provides a contextual backdrop for the voices…

The educational inclusion of deaf students in England is usually interpreted as placement in mainstream settings alongside hearing students, creating unintended pressure for assimilation to the communicative needs of hearing people. In this context, it is deaf students and their communication support staff who are left to deal with communicative…