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For ages, I've been eager to produce a documentary about special educational needs and disabilities.

You might know me as my EastEnders role, but I am equally a mother to an neurodivergent son diagnosed with dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Required many months of perseverance and hard work from my husband and I to obtain the appropriate schooling for him. At times, it felt like a battle.

That is why I decided to create this film, so I could meet other families going through the similar situation, and speak to educators, local authorities, and the government about how Send children are educated in England.

The Scope of Send in the UK

There are more than 1.7 million children in England with special educational needs. This represents a wide-ranging category, encompassing those on the autism spectrum and people who face challenges in speech and language, have ADHD, and physical disabilities, among other conditions.

Schools in the UK already provide assistance to these students, but if parents believe their child requires additional support, they can apply to their council for an EHCP.

An EHCP is a vital legal document because it is legally binding, states where a child should attend, and outlines how much additional help they should receive.

We spent countless hours completing the application forms to request an EHCP, and many families describe the procedure extremely challenging.

A Mother and Son's Journey

Not long after I encounter teenage the young man, he shows me his favourite stuffed animal, Reindeer Dog.

He is on the autism spectrum, meaning his brain processes and responds to the world in a unique manner from many people's. He faces difficulties in socializing his own age, understanding his emotions, and nervousness. Buddy likes to keep Reindeer Dog nearby.

After moving to the capital from Scotland in October 2024, Buddy's mum, Tunde, began searching for educational placements. She says she tried at least 11 institutions, but several failed to respond, and those that did said they were full or could not give Buddy the necessary help without an EHCP.

At the start of this year, more than 638,000 EHCPs had been granted to children and young people in the country, a significant increase on the previous year and an substantial growth in half a decade.

The increase is in part because parents and schools have become more skilled at recognizing pupils who have special educational needs, particularly autism, as opposed to there being more children with special needs.

It is the second time Buddy and Tunde have applied for an EHCP. Their initial request was rejected before Buddy was evaluated. Councils decline about a quarter of EHCP applications at the assessment stage, as per government data.

When they lived in Scotland, the mother says they were not required to apply for the comparable of an EHCP. Buddy's comprehensive school arranged assistance for his learning, but not for his well-being.

The Scottish system has a different system for helping children with Send; schools there strive to offer greater assistance without the requirement for parents to seek the equivalent of an EHCP.

"It's a madness," Tunde states. "[Getting extra support] was straightforward, and it could be simple to repeat."

While the teenager is not able to go to school, the local authority is providing him with 19 hours of tuition per week in the local library.

Tunde explains the process of seeking an plan has been so time consuming she had to stop working as a birth attendant and health visitor for a period.

"I am unable to manage my duties. I cannot take him to these sessions, and work at the same time… I couldn't get my son seen in the right amount of time and see other people's babies in the right amount time. It became a toss up - and he won," she says.

We catch up with Buddy after a lengthy speech and language assessment.

"Draining… that's all I've got for you," he says as he rests on a fence, Reindeer Dog held close.

Finding a Place for the Teenager

As autumn begins and as millions children start term, Buddy is continuing to be taught in the public library. Two months after I first met him, he's receiving an EHCP but his education is still not settled.

The local council approved Tunde's appeal that he attend an independently run school that works with pupils who have difficulties in mainstream schools.

Before he can begin there, the school has already taken over the lessons he gets in the library setting. But the parent's currently uncertain the place will be able to deliver what she believes her son needs to enhance his interpersonal abilities and self-assurance with peers his own age.

"We had been fully ready for the start of term… and he's still without a school place, he's still having one-to-one lessons," she said.

"In my view … getting ready to be with other kids and then still just being solo with instructors has set him back and made him be reluctant to go to school."

Southwark Council says it views Tunde's concerns very seriously and it will keep assist her household to make certain they receive the support they need without additional waiting.

It says it understands how difficult it can be for parents to navigate the system, and how upsetting delays in obtaining help can be.

The council adds it has allocated funds in a specialist support team, and now ensures pupils are assessed by specialist teachers at the earliest stage, and it is open to reassessing the situation when parents are worried about school placements.

Existing Framework is Failing

I know there is another side to this issue.

The significant increase in the quantity of Education, Health and Care Plans is putting local authorities under intense financial pressure. It is estimated that English councils are set to accumulate a combined special needs shortfall of £4.3bn and £4.9bn by March 2026.

The government says it has invested a significant sum to assist councils pay for EHCPs and additional funds on special educational needs placements.

I traveled to a local authority to speak with among the few people in public service prepared to talk to me publicly about Send funding.

The councillor is a Conservative councillor and cabinet member for education and youth.

"The current system is in fact very adversarial. Families are more and more tired and worried and frustrated of fighting… Employee absence rates are extremely elevated at the present time," she explains.

"The current system doesn't work. It has failed. It fails to provide the optimal results for children."

Demand for plans is currently exceeding funding in West Sussex. In a decade ago, the council had about 3,400 pupils with an EHCP. Now there are more than 10,000.

Consequently the special needs budget gap has been growing year-on-year, so that at the conclusion of the fiscal year it stands at over £123m.

"That [money] is really essentially intended for community resources. {That would have|