Rising needs in education are becoming one of the defining challenges facing leaders today.
Across early years settings, schools, colleges and trusts, concerns around emotional wellbeing, attendance, belonging, SEND, inclusion and workforce capacity are becoming increasingly prominent. These are no longer issues sitting alongside educational outcomes; they are shaping them.
For leaders, this is showing up in very practical ways: children and young people needing more support to regulate, attendance conversations becoming more complex, staff asking for more confidence, and SEND, pastoral and inclusion teams carrying more pressure.
What many leaders are experiencing in practice is now being reflected in national research, policy and funding. Children and young people continue to report challenges with their experience of education, with school persistently identified as the area of life they are most likely to be unhappy with. At the same time, settings across the sector continue to face growing pressures around SEND, attendance, emotional wellbeing and workforce capacity.
The Government's Every Child Achieving and Thriving vision, alongside the introduction of the Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF), Inclusive Early Years Fund (IEYF), and Ofsted’s new inspection framework, signals a growing recognition that helping children and young people succeed requires more than a focus on attainment alone.
As leaders plan for the 2026/27 academic year, the conversation is shifting from how we respond to individual challenges towards a bigger question: How do we create environments that are equipped to meet rising need and enable every child and young person to thrive?
What do we mean by rising need?
There is no single statistic that explains the challenges facing education today, nor is there one simple cause.
However, a growing body of evidence points towards a common theme: increasing numbers of children and young people are finding aspects of life, learning and belonging more difficult to navigate.
Recent research highlights concerns around wellbeing, belonging, feeling listened to, anxiety about the future and experiences of education itself. The Children's Society's latest review of children's wellbeing found that school remains the area of life children and young people are most likely to report being unhappy with, with one in 9 children aged 10 to 17 reporting being unhappy with school.
The research also points to wider concerns around belonging and engagement. Notably, children in their first year of secondary school reported lower life satisfaction and lower happiness with school than children in their final year of primary school, highlighting the challenges that transitions can present for many young people.
Alongside this, demand for additional support continues to rise. More than 1.7 million pupils in England now receive SEND support, while the number of children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans continues to increase year on year. Persistent absence also remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.
For many leaders, these trends are not abstract statistics. They are visible in everyday practice:
- Children and young people struggling to regulate emotions
- Increasing anxiety around transitions and change
- Difficulties with communication, interaction and belonging
- Challenges with attendance, engagement and participation
- Growing pressure on SEND, pastoral and inclusion teams
- Staff needing greater confidence to respond to increasingly diverse needs
These experiences may present differently across phases and settings, but together they point towards a common challenge.
More children and young people need support to feel safe, connected, understood and able to engage fully in learning. The question for education is not whether those needs exist. It is how we respond in ways that are sustainable, inclusive and effective.
Why this matters for every phase of education
It can be tempting to view today's challenges through separate lenses.- SEND.
- Attendance.
- Behaviour.
- Mental health.
- Wellbeing.
- Inclusion.
Yet in practice, these issues are rarely experienced in isolation.
A child who does not feel they belong may find it harder to attend. A young person experiencing anxiety may struggle to engage in learning. Communication difficulties can affect confidence, relationships and participation. Challenges with emotional regulation can influence behaviour, engagement and attainment.
What educators often see in practice is not a series of separate problems, but a complex web of interconnected needs.
This is one reason why recent policy developments, including Every Child Achieving and Thriving, the Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF) and the Inclusive Early Years Fund (IEYF), place such a strong emphasis on earlier support, inclusive environments and building capacity within mainstream provision.
Ofsted’s new inspection framework also reflects this wider shift, with greater attention on how education settings identify and remove barriers to learning and participation.
The conversation is shifting from:
How do we respond when difficulties become significant?
towards:
How do we create environments that help children and young people thrive before difficulties escalate?
It's an important shift.
It moves the focus away from crisis response and towards prevention. Away from isolated interventions and towards whole-setting approaches. Away from asking what is wrong with a child and towards understanding what support they may need to flourish.
Whether in an early years setting, school, college or trust, the challenge is increasingly the same: creating environments where children and young people feel safe, connected, included and able to succeed.
How new inclusion funding fits in
For eligible mainstream schools in England, and for early years settings working within local funding arrangements, the Inclusive Mainstream Fund and Inclusive Early Years Fund provide an opportunity to review inclusion priorities and consider what support should be in place for the year ahead.
The funding is not the whole story, but it does create a useful moment to pause and ask:
- Where are needs showing up most clearly?
- What support is already working well?
- Where do staff need more confidence or consistency?
- What could be strengthened before September?
For some settings, this may mean exploring how funding could support earlier help, stronger everyday practice and more inclusive environments. For others, including special schools, independent settings or settings outside England, the wider message remains the same: rising needs require thoughtful planning, not quick fixes. Download our free Inclusion Readiness Checklist to reflect on your current provision and areas for development.
Why quick fixes rarely create lasting change
When demand is high, there is understandable pressure to find immediate solutions: a new intervention, a new resource, a new programme or a new initiative.
These approaches can be valuable, but they rarely create lasting change on their own.
When staff are stretched and needs are complex, another standalone intervention can feel helpful in the moment but difficult to sustain unless it becomes part of everyday practice.
The most sustainable improvements often come from strengthening the everyday experiences children and young people have across a setting: the relationships they build, the routines they experience, the environments they learn in, the adults who support them, and the consistency of practice across teams.
This is where whole-setting approaches become so important.
The Government’s Every Child Achieving and Thriving vision reflects this direction of travel, with its emphasis on inclusion, early intervention, belonging and building capacity within mainstream provision. The challenge facing education is not simply how to respond when difficulties emerge. It is how to create the conditions in which more children and young people can thrive from the outset.
What might that look like in practice?
Building staff confidence
Ensuring staff feel equipped to understand behaviour, emotional development, communication, relationships and emerging needs, and have the confidence to respond effectively.
Strengthening inclusion
Creating environments where children and young people feel valued, understood and able to participate.
Supporting earlier identification
Recognising difficulties before they escalate and responding in ways that are timely and appropriate.
Developing consistent approaches
Reducing reliance on individual champions and embedding good practice across teams.
Focusing on belonging
Helping children and young people feel safe, connected and part of their community.
Investing in sustainable change
Prioritising approaches that build long-term capacity rather than short-term fixes.
These priorities may look different in an early years setting, a primary school, a secondary school, a college or across a trust. But the underlying ambition is often the same.
To create environments where children and young people can flourish.
Responding to rising need
The evidence suggests that many children and young people are finding aspects of life, learning and belonging increasingly challenging.
The policy direction suggests that education settings will continue to play a central role in responding.
And the experiences of leaders across the sector suggest that the need for practical, sustainable solutions has never been greater.
As planning for the 2026/27 academic year gets underway, there is an opportunity to move beyond short-term responses and focus on what creates lasting impact.
Because rising needs rarely have a single cause. And they rarely have a quick fix. They require confident adults. Strong relationships. Inclusive environments. Consistent practice. Early support. A sense of belonging.
Above all, they require a shared commitment to creating the conditions in which every child and young person can thrive.
How Thrive can support your September planning
For more than 30 years, Thrive has worked alongside early years settings, schools, colleges and trusts to help create environments where children and young people feel safe, supported and ready to learn.
As leaders plan for the 2026/27 academic year, many are looking at how they can strengthen inclusion, build staff confidence, support earlier identification of need, develop consistent practice and create a stronger sense of belonging across their setting.
Whether you are reviewing your inclusion strategy, exploring opportunities through the Inclusive Mainstream Fund or Inclusive Early Years Fund, or looking to strengthen support for children and young people with SEND and SEMH needs, Thrive can help you take practical, evidence-informed steps that build long-term capacity.
Considering becoming a Thrive School or Thrive Early Years Setting, or exploring how Thrive could support your wider inclusion priorities? Click below to learn more about the options available and find the right approach for your setting.
Packages and most apprenticeship routes close on 13 July. The new Early Years Level 5 apprenticeship route closes on 16 August.
Or learn more about how Thrive works with school trusts.
