Autism: Education

Question

The department is committed to ensuring that all pupils, including those with autism, can reach their potential and receive excellent support from their teachers. Consideration of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) underpins both the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) and Early Career Framework (ECF). These frameworks set out for new teachers the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching.

To identify opportunities to build teacher expertise, the department reviewed the CCF alongside the ECF during 2023. This review combined a review of the framework content, underpinning evidence with evaluation data, lessons learned from the first years of implementation, and extensive expert and sector feedback including from SEND specialists. This included a public call for evidence. Following this review, the updated and combined Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework was published on 30 January 2024, for delivery from September 2025. The framework is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-and-early-career-framework.

To support education staff at any stage in their career, the Universal Services contract brings together SEND-specific training and support for staff working in schools and further education. It aims to improve outcomes for children and young people through one programme which reaches 70% of schools and colleges in England per year. The contract offers autism awareness training and resources, which align with the national all-age autism strategy and shares the strategy’s ambition to improve autistic children and young people’s access to education and support positive transitions into adulthood. The strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-strategy-for-autistic-children-young-people-and-adults-2021-to-2026. Over 135,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training since the Universal Services programme began in May 2022.

More broadly, the 2023 SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan outlines the department’s vision to improve mainstream education by setting standards for the early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The plan is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-and-alternative-provision-improvement-plan. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and practitioner standards will be developed to support frontline professionals to deliver this support. The first three practitioner standards will be published by the end of 2025 and will include one on supporting autistic children and young people.