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For ages, I was eager to create a film focusing on special educational needs and disabilities.

You might know me as Linda Carter, but I am equally a mum to an autistic son who also has dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Required months of perseverance and hard work from my husband and I to secure the right schooling for him. Sometimes, it felt like a battle.

This is the reason I wanted to create this film, so I could meet other families going through the same thing, and speak to educators, councils, and the ministry about how children with special needs are supported in England.

The Scope of Send in the UK

Currently, there are over 1.7 million children in England with Send. This represents a wide-ranging category, including autistic children and people who struggle with communication, have attention disorders, and mobility issues, along with other needs.

Schools in England already provide assistance to these pupils, but if parents believe their son or daughter needs additional support, they can apply to their local council for an Education, Health and Care Plan.

An EHCP is a crucial legal document because it is legally binding, states where a pupil should attend, and details how much extra support they should receive.

We devoted hours completing the application forms to request an plan, and numerous parents find the procedure very frustrating.

A Mother and Son's Journey

Not long after I encounter teenage Buddy, he shows me his beloved stuffed animal, his comfort object.

He is on the autism spectrum, meaning his brain processes and responds to the environment in a unique manner from others. He struggles with socializing his own age, understanding his feelings, and nervousness. Buddy likes to keep Reindeer Dog nearby.

Following their move to the capital from Scotland in October 2024, his mother, the parent, started applying for schools. She explains she contacted at least 11 schools, but several didn't get back to her, and the ones that replied indicated they were at capacity or were unable to give her son extra support without an Education, Health and Care Plan.

At the start of this year, over 638,000 EHCPs had been granted to students in England, a significant increase on the previous year and an 80% increase in six years.

This rise is in part because parents and schools have got better at recognizing children who have special educational needs, especially autism spectrum disorder, as rather than there being an increase with special needs.

This marks the second time the family have sought an plan. Their initial request was rejected before he was evaluated. Councils decline about a 25% of requests at the evaluation phase, according to government data.

During their time in the Scottish system, the mother notes they did not have to request the equivalent of an Education, Health and Care Plan. His secondary school arranged assistance for his academic needs, but not for his well-being.

Scotland has a different system for supporting pupils with special needs; educational institutions aim to deliver greater assistance without the requirement for families to apply for the similar of an plan.

"It's chaotic," she states. "[Securing help] was so easily done, and it could be easily done again."

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

The mother explains the procedure of applying for an plan has been so time consuming she had to pause her career as a birth attendant and health visitor for a period.

"I am unable to do the parenting. I cannot take him to these sessions, and work at the same time… I was unable to get my son seen in the appropriate timeframe and see other people's babies in the necessary period. It became a toss up - and he prevailed," she comments.

I reconnect with the youth after a long communication assessment.

"Exhausting… that is the only word I've got for you," he says as he rests on a barrier, Reindeer Dog tucked under his arm.

A School for Buddy

It's September and while countless children start term, he is still be educated in the library. 60 days after I initially encountered him, he's receiving an EHCP but his schooling is still not settled.

The council approved the mother's appeal that he go to an private institution that specializes in pupils who struggle in standard education.

Prior to he can start there, the school has already taken over the sessions he gets in the library setting. But Tunde's now not sure the school will be able to deliver what she believes her child requires to improve his social skills and self-assurance with peers his own age.

"We had been fully ready for September… and he's still without a school place, he continues to receive one-to-one instruction," she said.

"In my view … preparing to be around fellow students and then still just being solo with adults has set him back and caused him to not want to go to school."

Southwark Council says it views Tunde's concerns very seriously and it will keep assist her household to make certain they receive the support they require without further delay.

It says it knows how hard it can be for parents to navigate the process, and how distressing delays in obtaining help can be.

It says it has invested in a dedicated information and advice service, and now ensures pupils are evaluated by specialist teachers at the earliest stage, and it is willing to reviewing the situation when families are concerned about education placements.

Existing Framework is Failing

I know there is another side to this issue.

The significant increase in the quantity of EHCPs is putting local authorities under intense financial pressure. According to projections that UK local governments are set to accumulate a total accumulated Send deficit between £4.3bn and £4.9bn by spring 2026.

The government states it has invested a significant sum to assist councils pay for EHCPs and further investment on special educational needs placements.

I traveled to a local authority to interview one of few people in local government willing to discuss on the record about special needs financing.

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

"The current system is actually very adversarial. Our parents are more and more tired and anxious and frustrated of battling… Employee absence rates are really, really high at the present time," she says.

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

The need for plans is currently outstripping resources in the region. In 2015, the council had about 3,400 pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan. Now there are more than 10,000.

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

"That [money] is really essentially intended for local services. {That would have|