Badly behaving pupils should not be banished to special needs areas as punishment, says Bridget Phillipson

By ELEANOR HARDING, EDUCATION EDITOR Published: 14:51, 22 June 2026 | Updated: 14:58, 22 June 2026 Badly behaved pupils should not be banished to special needs areas as a punishment, Bridget Phillipson has warned teachers. The Education Secretary believes too many schools are misusing 'inclusion bases', which are supposed to cater for those with special educational needs and disabilities (Send). New guidance due to be published tomorrow says schools must stop sending challenging pupils to these areas as a sanction. In February, a Government white paper said all mainstream schools should have an inclusion base, to provide more Send support. It is part of a strategy to place more pupils with Send into mainstream education, reducing the need for expensive special needs schools. Inclusion bases typically lay on individual or small group teaching, or support such as speech and language therapy. Mrs Phillipson said: 'Every child deserves to walk into school feeling like they belong there, and confident they will get the help they need to succeed. Inclusion bases, used properly, will be pivotal. The days of using these spaces as a sanction are over. 'They are not a place to send children when they are difficult, and having Send is not the same as bad behaviour.' Badly behaved pupils should not be banished to special needs areas as a punishment, Bridget Phillipson (pictured) has warned teachers More than a third of respondents to a survey of nearly 1,000 parents, conducted by the Department for Education (DfE), said their child did not feel part of the wider school community when using the inclusion base. Many described their child's time in a base as segregation rather than inclusion. The DfE reports around a third of schools which have a base do not have a close working relationship between the unit's staff and mainstream teachers. Mrs Phillipson told The Times: 'Bases are specialist environments where children with complex needs can thrive, progress, and belong. This guidance sets the standard we expect – and we are investing billions so that schools have what they need to meet it.' Tomorrow's guidance will also state that children must still take part in mainstream lessons, trips and activities, and that bases should act as a bridge to school life rather than a barrier from it. Children with complex needs should get the most expert support and day-to-day responsibility for a base must sit with a qualified teacher. It comes amid plans for a radical overhaul of the Send system to save councils from bankruptcy due to ballooning costs. The number of children with an education, health and care plans (EHCP) - which entitles them to expensive council-funded support – has rocketed by 11.6 per cent since last year. The total is now 538,500, making up 6 per cent of all schoolchildren. The latest figures also show a rise in the proportion of children receiving Send support without a plan, from 14.2 per cent to 14.8 per cent. In total, the number of children receiving Send support, both with and without an EHCP, has reached nearly 1.9 million. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.