One in three parents have sought a special needs assessment for their child, according to a survey that reveals a surge in demand for special needs support in schools across the UK.

The figures were released amid mounting apprehension in England over national plans to reform special needs provision amid rising costs and a severe shortage of dedicated special school places.

The survey of more than 5,800 parents, commissioned by the Parentkind charity and carried out by YouGov, found that 33% of parents with school-age children said they had asked for an assessment for possible special educational needs (SEN) from their child’s school.

In England alone the proportion rose to 34%. Previous Department for Education (DfE) data found that about one in five children were classed as SEN last year, including 482,000 in England with educational, health and care plans (EHCPs) that detail specific support for individual children.

Jason Elsom, Parentkind’s chief executive, said: “Despite the best efforts of our schools, hundreds of thousands of families are hurting because our SEN system is broken.

“Families should not have to wait months or years to receive the support they so desperately need. Our measure as a society should be the way we treat our most vulnerable, and this should weigh heavily on our shoulders.”

Parentkind is the UK’s largest parent-school charity, working with more than 24,000 parent teacher associations and school parent councils.

Half of parents who sought an assessment said it was undertaken by the school and half said that they were still waiting or had paid for a private assessment. A quarter of those waiting said they had been doing so for more than a year.

The survey also laid bare the personal cost that many parents face coping with a child with special needs: 15% said they had given up their job to care for their child, while 20% said they had taken time off from paid work.

A third of parents of children with SEN said they faced “financial strain due to additional costs” and increased tensions at home, while 40% said they had experienced their own mental health problems.

There have been sharp rises in diagnoses of autism, ADHD and speech and language needs among children in recent years, with speech disorders and social and emotional issues increasing rapidly since the Covid pandemic.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has described England’s increases in special educational needs and disabilities (Send) as “staggering”, reflecting “improved recognition of needs that were always there” through greater awareness and diagnosis.

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary for England, has said the DfE will publish a white paper outlining its plans for reform later this year. It is expected to expand special needs provision within mainstream schools and encourage the creation of specialist units within them.

But many parents and campaigners fear that the reforms will curtail the use of EHCPs, and a rally took place outside parliament earlier this week.

The DfE said it is “committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools”, but the department faces an uphill struggle with the Treasury for funding for more special school places.

The DfE said: “This government inherited a Send system left on its knees – which is why we are listening closely to parents as we work to improve experiences and outcomes for all children with Send, wherever they are in the country. Our starting point will always be improving support for children.”

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, 39% of existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated within the next five years. For universities and colleges, that raises a practical question: how do we help learners transition into jobs that are evolving as they study?

Our analysis of labour market data indicates that inefficiencies in career transitions and skills mismatches impose a substantial, recurring cost on the economy. Whether you look at OECD research or UK business surveys, the signal is consistent: better alignment between skills and roles is a national growth lever.

A balanced skills strategy has to do two things at once:

• Invest in homegrown capability at scale, from supporting educators with a future-facing curriculum to incentivising businesses to invest in skills development.
• Attract and retain international talent in areas of genuine shortage, so employers can keep delivering while the domestic pipeline grows.

Language sits at the heart of how international talent is realised. English proficiency is not the only determinant of success—qualifications, work experience, employer practices, and student support all matter—but it is a critical enabler of academic attainment and workplace integration.

Accurately understanding what a learner can do with English in real contexts helps institutions place students on the right programs and target support, and it helps employers identify candidates who can contribute from day one. This is not only a UK story. Many international learners return home, where English and job relevant skills increase employability and earning power.

The rise of advanced technology raises opportunities for efficiency, but also makes testing more vulnerable to misuse, so confidence matters more than ever. From our work across the sector, three priorities stand out for assessments:

• First, trusted results. Pair advanced AI scoring with human oversight and layered security. For higher‑stakes sittings, secure centres add the necessary extra assurance: biometric ID checks, trained invigilators in the room, and multi‑camera coverage.
• Second, relevance to real academic life. Assess the communication students actually do: follow lectures and seminars, summarise complex spoken content, interpret visuals, and contribute to discussions.
• Third, fairness. Use CEFR‑aligned scoring that’s independently validated and monitored, so admissions decisions are confident.

Crucially, better measurement is a means, not an end. Used well, it helps inform admissions and placement, so students start in the right place and get in‑sessional support where it will make the biggest difference. And it provides employers and careers services with clearer evidence that graduates can operate in the language demands of specific sectors.

The UK has a window to convert uncertainty into advantage. If we pair investment in homegrown skills with a welcoming, well‑governed approach to international talent—and if we use evidence to match people to courses and jobs more precisely—we can ease the drag of mismatch and accelerate growth. At the centre of that effort is something deceptively simple: the ability to connect in a shared language. When we get that right, opportunities multiply, for learners, for employers and for every region of the country.

The author: James Carmichael, country manager UK and Ireland, Pearson English Language Learning

Having taught AI and data analytics in China, I have seen the payoff: graduates join internet giants, leading electric-vehicle makers and the finance industry.

According to Norwegian Business School professor Vegard Kolbjørnsrud, six principles define how humans and AI can work together in organisations. These principles aren’t just for managers or tech executives; they form a core mindset that should be embedded in any national AI education strategy to improve productivity for professors, teachers and students.

Let’s briefly unpack each principle and how it relates to broader national competitiveness in AI education.

The first is what he calls the addition principle. Organisational intelligence grows when human and digital actors are added effectively. We need to teach citizens to migrate from low-value to higher-level tasks with AI. A nation doesn’t need every citizen to be a machine-learning engineer, but it needs most people to understand how AI augments roles in research and development, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, finance and creative industries. Thus, governments should democratise AI by investing in platforms that reskill everyone, fast.