Racialised dimensions of the 2026 schools white paper and SEND reform consultation: An intersectional analysis of special educational needs and race

Abstract This article uses Critical Discourse Analysis to examine the racialised implications of the 2026 Schools White Paper: Every child achieving and thriving and the associated open consultation, SEND reform: putting children and young people first. Drawing on scholarship in critical race theory, disability studies, and intersectionality, the paper argues that policy frameworks often obscure the structural inequalities experienced by pupils who occupy multiple marginalised identities, particularly those at the intersection of special educational needs and different racial backgrounds. The analysis focuses on the deconstruction of the White Paper and SEND reforms consultation, with close attention to the discourse and how it relates to wider power relations and ideology. Evidence demonstrates persistent ethnic inequality in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) identification and support, overrepresentation of ethnically and racially minoritised groups in exclusion statistics and racialised barriers to accessing Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). The analysis highlights how policy discourses emphasising standardisation and accountability risk reinforcing institutional inequities. The article concludes by proposing an intersectional policy framework that foregrounds race and disability within SEND governance and accountability systems.