Autism

Inclusion is visible in ordinary decisions: who gets chosen, who goes on the trip, whether an adjustment survives a supply teacher, whether a distressed child is met with curiosity or with a sanction, and whether an autistic pupil's parent expects the phone call to be bad news.

The 2026 Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group report recommends action on identification, workforce development, learning environments and accountability. These are recommendations to government rather than current duties — but they are a reasonable self-audit for a school, and they align with what the SEND Code of Practice already requires.

• Predictability as a design principle: consistent routines, advance notice of change, communicated across the school rather than per classroom.
• Sensory conditions: noise, acoustics, lighting, corridor crush, dining hall, toilets. Cheap changes often have disproportionate effect, though the evidence base here is limited.
• A quiet, non-punitive space that pupils can access before escalation, staffed and understood.
• Behaviour policy that requires consideration of SEND and reasonable adjustments alongside consistent expectations.
• Attendance work that starts with barriers, in line with statutory attendance guidance, rather than with enforcement.
• Transition planning as a whole-school system, including into secondary.
• Curriculum and assessment access: making sure the way knowledge is demonstrated is not itself the barrier.

Provision existing is not the same as provision working. The test is participation, progress and wellbeing for the pupils concerned.

• Attendance and persistent absence for autistic pupils compared with the cohort.
• Suspensions, internal exclusions and part-time timetables — and how long any part-time arrangement has run.
• Participation in clubs, trips, residentials and responsibilities.
• Pupil voice, collected in accessible formats and acted on visibly.
• Parent experience, including whether they feel believed.
• Staff confidence and whether adjustments happen consistently across the week.

• Assume the family knows things you do not, particularly about the cost of the school day.
• Be explicit that the school does not diagnose, and what it will do regardless.
• Make the route for concerns easy and visible, and respond within a stated timeframe.
• Involve families and pupils in reviewing provision, not just in being told about it.
• Ask about language preferences and use them consistently in records and conversation.

• Current statutory guidance: SEND Code of Practice (2015); Equality Act duty to make reasonable adjustments; statutory attendance guidance.
• Current clinical guidance: NICE CG128 (recognition, referral, diagnosis) and CG170 (support and management).
• Evidence reviews: the DfE-commissioned UCL rapid evidence reviews (2025), which state explicitly that they do not reflect government policy.
• Recommendations: the independent Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group report (February 2026).
• Proposed reform: ongoing SEND reform. Do not present proposals to staff or families as though they are already requirements.

1. National Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceProfessional guidance
   Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: recognition, referral and diagnosis (CG128) (2011, updated 2017)

   How recognition, referral and diagnostic assessment should work in England. Diagnosis is a multidisciplinary clinical process, not a school judgement.

2. National Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceProfessional guidance
   Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: support and management (CG170) (2013, updated 2021)

   Support and management. The 2021 update moved to identity-first language and added recommendations on co-occurring difficulties.

3. NHSProfessional guidance
   Signs of autism in children

   Plain-English NHS information, and clear that many autistic people will not show all the signs and that autism looks different in different people.

4. Department for Education / University College LondonResearch summary
   Identifying and supporting the needs of autistic children and young people: a rapid evidence review (September 2025)

   DfE-commissioned review by UCL. Carries an explicit disclaimer that it is not an endorsement of the approaches described and does not reflect government policy.

5. Department for EducationResearch summary
   Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group: report — recommendations for mainstream education (February 2026)

   Independent report to DfE. Recommendations rather than statutory duties, organised around identification of strengths and needs, workforce, learning environments and accountability.

6. Department for EducationStatutory guidance
   SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (2015)

   Current statutory guidance: the graduated approach, the duty to involve children and families, and provision that follows identified need rather than diagnosis.

7. Education Endowment FoundationResearch summary
   Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools — guidance report (2020, updated 2021)

   High-quality teaching first, careful use of teaching assistants, and a warning against arrangements that separate pupils with SEND from their peers by default.

8. Department for EducationStatutory guidance
   Working together to improve school attendance (2022, statutory from 2024)

   Relevant where attendance is affected — expects barriers to be understood and support offered rather than attendance treated purely as compliance.

9. National Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceProfessional guidance
   Social, emotional and mental wellbeing in primary and secondary education (NG223) (2022)

   Whole-school approach to wellbeing. Relevant because anxiety commonly sits alongside autism in school settings.