We are primed to think of students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) as a rare exception to the norm: a small group requiring specialist support somewhere at the edges of the education system. But reality is very different.

According to the Department for Education (DfE), in England in 2024, 18.4% of pupils were recognised as having special educational needs. This means that nearly 1 in 5 students require additional interventions, resources, or adjustments to participate fully in school and to develop the academic, social, and practical skills needed for later in life. For comparison, only about 10-12% of children are left-handed.

The percentage of SEN students has been generally on the rise since 2016. Similarly,  increasingly more young people who classify as having a ‘learning difficulty, disability, or health problem’ enter government-funded further education and skills. Just in the 2022–2023 academic year, the figures for this category of 19+ year-olds in government-funded further education and skills was 18.5% (a total of 325,470 individuals), up from 11.8% the year before (291,010 in 2021–2022).

So, what does that mean? And how does SEND affect the futures of this growing number of young people entering adulthood – especially amid widening inequalities and increasing pressure on public services?

How SEND affects opportunities and access on the labour market

Whether in further education or not, SEND young people do not disappear when they leave school. They become part of the workforce, their local communities, and the wider economy.

In the UK in the Q2 of 2023, around 5.1 million disabled people were in employment, at a disability employment rate of 53.6%. While this remains well below the employment rate for non-disabled people in that period (82.5%), it emphasises an important point: disability is not a niche issue affecting a small minority, but a significant part of the UK’s working-age population.

The question of getting people into work

When it comes to disability, one of the most persistent questions in political debates is how to increase employment among people with SEND. Discussions often focus on welfare reforms, tighter eligibility criteria, and arguments that reducing financial support will encourage more people into work. However, these debates often overlook a more fundamental question: whether a person’s condition actually allows them to participate fully in the workforce (and compete on equal terms) in the first place.

The data seems to hold at least part of the answer. Government analysis found that employment outcomes vary considerably depending on how much a condition affects a person’s day-to-day life: for people whose daily activities are significantly impacted, barriers to employment are often greater and more persistent. This places people with learning disabilities at a particular disadvantage – almost half (49.4%) report that their condition affects their daily activities “a lot”. In fact, alongside progressive illnesses (51.1%), learning difficulties are among the long-term conditions most likely to have a substantial impact on everyday life, according to respondents. So, is it really surprising that when looking at employment outcomes, only around 29% of adults with a learning disability are in paid work?

Where do labour market inequalities begin?

The disadvantages associated with SEND often begin much earlier than adulthood and can accumulate over time. As early as compulsory schooling, children with SEND are significantly less likely than their peers to meet expected educational milestones, including foundational literacy skills such as phonics, reading, and writing. Such early gaps can have cascading effects throughout a student’s educational journey, shaping later attainment and influencing transitions into further education, training, or employment.

To add fuel to the fire, poverty, in particular, can both contribute to and exacerbate SEND-related disadvantages. Research suggests that families raising children with SEND are more likely to experience financial pressures, which can restrict access to opportunities, increase caring responsibilities, and make it harder to access support services. The relationship also works in the opposite direction: some SEND conditions are associated with factors linked to poverty (including maternal stress, low maternal BMI, smoking, etc.). SEND and poverty can therefore reinforce one another, creating disadvantages that begin early and become harder to overcome over time.

Here is the result of all of this: by age 25, research shows that young people (and particularly women) who grew up with special educational needs or disabilities in England experienced a substantial economic disadvantage compared to their peers.

Why SEND support seems to fall short

The answer seems straightforward: if SEND-related disadvantage begins early, then so should support, in order to prevent disadvantage from becoming entrenched and translating into poorer outcomes later in life. Governments, too, have a strong interest in ensuring that adults with SEND can access employment and live as independently as possible, reducing the long-term social and economic costs associated with unmet need. But if that’s the case, what does that support actually look like, and how accessible is it in practice?

In England, every school is required to identify and support pupils with special educational needs, make reasonable adjustments and provide additional assistance through its SEN provision where necessary. Beyond that, children and young people up to the age of 25 can receive an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan when their needs exceed what is normally available through a school’s SEN provisioning. This can include speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, psychological support, educational psychology services, specialist equipment, or placements in specialist educational settings.

On paper, EHC plans are designed to ensure that children receive the support they need. In practice, obtaining that support is becoming increasingly difficult. Families frequently report lengthy waits, complex assessment processes, and battles to secure appropriate provision, while demand continues to outstrip available resources. More devastatingly, where a child lives is increasingly likely to influence the support they receive and the outcomes they achieve. Research data shows clusters of comparatively high-performing SEND pupils center in and around London, while parts of the East Midlands and East of England experience notably poorer outcomes. In other words, two children with similar needs may find themselves on very different paths simply because they live in different parts of the country.

How SEND shapes the journey into employment

We end up where we started: adulthood and employment.

Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) are the most commonly identified special educational need among pupils receiving SEN support, accounting for around 25% of cases and nearly one-fifth of those with EHC plans, second only to autism spectrum disorder. Yet many routes into employment rely heavily on exactly these skills. Job applications, interviews, workplace assessments, and even informal networking often depend on strong communication and literacy abilities.

In fact, for many young people with SEND, the challenge is not simply finding a job but navigating a transition that often involves additional barriers to further education, training, independent living, and employment itself. Careers education and transition planning are intended to help bridge these gaps by providing information, guidance, and opportunities to prepare for adulthood. Yet, despite often having a greater need for this support, young people with SEND are less likely to participate in these programmes than their non-SEND peers.

The consequences can extend far beyond the classroom. Missing out on careers guidance and transition support can make it harder for young people with SEND to access further education, develop workplace skills, and build the confidence and networks needed to enter employment. Without the right support, and as support services continue to be stretched, too many young people with SEND face barriers they did not create, only to be blamed for the outcomes that follow.

Looking beyond

For a young person with SEND, the journey into adulthood depends on countless factors outside of their control. Understanding how these factors interact – from family circumstances and access to support, to education and local services – helps shift the focus towards the structural barriers that continue to shape opportunities throughout childhood and into adulthood.

SEND is not somebody else’s issue. They are classmates, colleagues, neighbours, friends, siblings, and future workers trying to build stable futures in a society that still too often treats support as optional rather than foundational.

References:

Department for Education. (2023). Special educational needs and disability: an analysis and summary of data sources.

De Kovel, C. G., Carrión-Castillo, A., & Francks, C. (2019). A large-scale population study of early life factors influencing left-handedness. Scientific reports, 9(1), 584. 

Gov.uk. Employment of disabled people 2023

Mencap.org.uk. Employment – research and statistics

Azpitarte, F., & Holt, L. (2024). Failing children with special educational needs and disabilities in England: new evidence of poor outcomes and a postcode lottery at the local authority level at key stage 1. British Educational Research Journal, 50(1), 414-437.

Shaw, B., Bernardes, E., Trethewey, A., & Menzies, L. (2016). Special educational needs and their links to poverty. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. https://cfey.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Special-educational-needs-and-their-links-to-poverty.pdf

Parsons, S., & Platt, L. (2026). How has the employment gap of those growing up with special educational needs or disability in England changed over two cohorts born 30 years apart?. European Societies, 1-29.

Warnock, R. (2025). Relational legacies and relative experiences: Austerity, inequality and access to special educational needs and disability (SEND) support in London, England. The Geographical Journal, 191(3), e12536.

Nag, S. (2014). Special educational needs, social cognitive environments, and preparing for the world of work. In Handbook of career development: International perspectives (pp. 497-511). New York, NY: Springer New York.

Carter, E. W., Trainor, A. A., Cakiroglu, O., Swedeen, B., & Owens, L. A. (2010). Availability of and access to career development activities for transition-age youth with disabilities. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 33(1), 13-24.