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For a long time, I was eager to produce a film focusing on Send.

Perhaps you know me as my EastEnders role, but I am equally a mother to an neurodivergent child who also has dyslexia and ADHD.

It took months of determination and hard work from my husband and I to secure the right education for him. At times, it seemed like a struggle.

This is the reason I decided to make this film, so I could connect with other parents experiencing the same thing, and speak to teachers, councils, and the ministry about how Send children are supported in the UK.

Understanding Send in England

Currently, there are over 1.7 million young people in the country with special educational needs. This represents a wide-ranging group, encompassing autistic children and people who struggle with communication, have attention disorders, and physical disabilities, along with other needs.

Educational institutions in England already provide some support to these pupils, but if parents think their son or daughter requires additional support, they can make an application to their local council for an EHCP.

An EHCP is a vital document because it is enforceable by law, states where a child should go to school, and outlines how much additional help they should receive.

We spent hours filling in the application forms to request an plan, and many families find the procedure very frustrating.

Buddy and Tunde

Shortly after I encounter 15-year-old Buddy, he presents his beloved stuffed animal, his comfort object.

Buddy's autistic, which means his brain experiences and responds to the environment in a different way from many people's. He struggles with meeting people his own age, managing his feelings, and nervousness. He likes to keep his toy close to him.

After moving to London from north of the border in last autumn, Buddy's mum, the parent, started applying for educational placements. She explains she tried at least 11 institutions, but several failed to respond, and the ones that replied indicated they were full or were unable to give Buddy the necessary help without an EHCP.

By the beginning of the current year, over 638,000 EHCPs had been granted to children and young people in the country, a 10.8% rise on the year before and an 80% increase in half a decade.

The increase is partly because parents and schools have got better at identifying pupils who have Send, especially autism spectrum disorder, as rather than there being more children with special needs.

It is the repeat Buddy and Tunde have applied for an plan. Their first application was rejected before he was assessed. Councils reject about a quarter of EHCP applications at the evaluation phase, as per official figures.

During their time in the Scottish system, the mother says they did not have to request the comparable of an Education, Health and Care Plan. Buddy's secondary school provided assistance for his academic needs, but not for his well-being.

The Scottish system has a alternative approach for helping children with special needs; educational institutions strive to deliver greater assistance without the requirement for parents to apply for the similar of an EHCP.

"It's a madness," Tunde says. "[Securing help] was so easily done, and it should be easily done again."

While Buddy is unable to attend classes, the council is offering him with nearly 20 hours of tuition per week in the local library.

Tunde tells me the process of applying for an EHCP has been so demanding she had to stop working as a midwife and health visitor for a time.

"I am unable to do the parenting. I can't get him to these appointments, and be employed at the same time… I couldn't secure appointments for my child in the appropriate timeframe and see other people's babies in the right amount time. And it was a difficult choice - and my son prevailed," she comments.

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

"Draining… that's all I've got for you," he remarks as he rests on a fence, his toy held close.

Finding a Place for Buddy

As autumn begins and as countless children begin classes, Buddy is still be educated in the library. Two months after I initially encountered him, he's getting an EHCP but his education is yet to be resolved.

The council agreed to Tunde's request that he attend an independently run institution that specializes in children who struggle in mainstream schools.

Prior to Buddy can begin there, the school has assumed responsibility for the sessions he receives in the library setting. But the parent's currently uncertain the school will be able to provide what she thinks her child needs to enhance his interpersonal abilities and self-assurance with children his own age.

"We had been all prepared for September… and he's still without a school place, he continues to receive one-to-one lessons," she said.

"In my view … preparing to be with other kids and then still just being one-to-one with adults has set him back and made him be reluctant to attend school."

The local authority says it views Tunde's concerns with utmost importance and it will continue to assist her family to make certain they obtain the support they require without additional waiting.

Officials note it knows how difficult it can be for families to manage the system, and how distressing delays in obtaining help can be.

It says it has invested in a specialist support service, and currently guarantees pupils are evaluated by expert educators at the earliest stage, and it is willing to reassessing the circumstances when parents are concerned about education placements.

Existing Framework is Broken

I am aware there is another side to this story.

The huge rise in the quantity of EHCPs is putting councils under severe financial pressure. It is estimated that UK local governments are set to run up a total accumulated special needs shortfall between £4.3bn and £4.9bn by spring 2026.

Ministers states it has committed a significant sum to assist councils fund plans and further investment on special educational needs placements.

I went to a local authority to speak with among the few people in public service willing to talk to me publicly about special needs financing.

The councillor is a Conservative councillor and official for education and youth.

"The current system is in fact highly confrontational. Our parents are increasingly tired and anxious and fed up of battling… Staff sickness levels are really, really high at the present time," she says.

"This system is ineffective. It has failed. It fails to provide the optimal results for children."

Demand for plans is now exceeding funding in West Sussex. In a decade ago, the authority had about 3,400 pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan. Today there are over 10,000.

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

"These funds is primarily meant to be for local services. {That would have|