The Change Programme was a national initiative from the Department for Education (DfE) designed to test and refine reforms to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) support in local areas. It was initially established to take forward proposals in the SEND and AP Improvement Plan in 2023, and later reformulated and extended following the 2024 General Election to test further policy development around mainstream inclusion.
The REACh Consortium was DfE’s delivery partner for the Change Programme. Led by PA Consulting, the team included the Council for Disabled Children, IMPOWER Consulting and Olive Academies. As well as providing challenge and support to local areas with delivery of the changes, a key role for REACh was to capture ‘real-time’ learning and feed this back into policy development, as well as use the insights to develop implementation resources and illustrative examples for other local areas.
Insights and resources from the programme can be found on the What Works in SEND website.
Insights and resources from the Change Programme
You can also hear ‘Change Stories’ from local areas that were directly involved in delivering the SENDAP Change Programme in the video playlist below. The Change Stories show the journey that local partnerships on the Change Programme as they pivot towards more inclusive SEND systems. They illustrate the complex and contextual nature of system change, highlighting the real challenges and pressures that shape local decision‑making. The stories demonstrate how local partnerships have responded with creativity, collaboration, and commitment to delivering more equitable and inclusive support for children and families.