Help us improve how SEND is recognised, understood and supported
Help us improve how SEND is recognised, understood and supported
Navigate SEND: Insights is a working digital assessment platform designed to help schools, families and professionals build a clearer picture of a child or young person’s needs, strengths, environment and potential.
We are preparing a UK research and validation programme and are inviting schools, multi-academy trusts, local authorities, specialist settings, professionals and parent/carer organisations to express their interest.
The initial form takes about 60 seconds. It is not a commitment to participate, and we will not ask for any information about an individual child.
Primary button: Express your interest
Secondary button: Explore Navigate SEND: Insights
Trust points:
- Working platform
- 18 assessment tools
- Non-diagnostic
- Human-reviewed
- UK research programme
This proposed research programme is subject to funding, final governance approval and formal participation agreements.
Help shape the future of earlier SEND identification
You could help us by
- ✓Becoming a pilot school, setting or organisation
- ✓Supporting participant recruitment or user research
- ✓Contributing professional, scientific or lived expertise
- ✓Exploring future organisational adoption
Use a demonstration profile only. Insights is non-diagnostic and remains under validation.
Express your interest
Tell us who you are and how you may be able to help. We will contact suitable potential partners about the next step.
You may recognise these challenges
Organisations supporting children and young people with SEND are often working with incomplete or fragmented information.
You may be experiencing:
- concerns being recognised only after progress has stalled or a situation has reached crisis point;
- different adults seeing different parts of the child’s needs, without one shared picture;
- assessments focusing on a diagnosis or difficulty while overlooking strengths, motivation and potential;
- interventions being introduced without a clear baseline or agreed measure of success;
- staff being unsure why an approach that should work is not producing progress;
- families repeatedly explaining the same history to different services;
- reports that describe difficulties but do not make the next steps clear;
- limited time and access to specialist assessment;
- uncertainty about what should be taught, supported or adjusted next;
- transition and preparation for adulthood beginning too late.
These challenges are not limited to mainstream education.
Even where a child already attends a special school or has an established diagnosis or EHCP, staff still need to understand:
- how the individual currently communicates, learns and participates;
- which strengths can be used to support development;
- why progress may differ across environments or members of staff;
- whether needs have changed;
- which targets are meaningful for this particular person;
- how support is affecting participation and independence;
- what foundations are being developed for adult life.
A diagnosis may help explain part of the picture. It does not, by itself, tell a team what the child can do, what matters to them, what is getting in the way today or what should happen next.
Why earlier and more accurate recognition matters
Earlier recognition is not simply about identifying a label sooner.
It is about understanding:
- what the child or young person is finding difficult;
- what they can already do;
- what motivates and engages them;
- what barriers exist within the environment;
- what may be emerging;
- what they could develop with the right teaching, opportunity and support.
A clearer understanding can support:
- earlier and more proportionate action;
- better-targeted teaching and intervention;
- more meaningful person-centred outcomes;
- clearer communication between families and professionals;
- stronger evidence for decisions and referrals;
- fewer repeated assessments and duplicated conversations;
- better monitoring of whether support is actually working;
- more successful participation in local and mainstream settings where appropriate;
- stronger preparation for adulthood, further education, employment and independent living.
The aim is not simply to produce another report. It is to create a clearer route from concern to understanding, action and review.
What is Navigate SEND: Insights?
Navigate SEND: Insights is a working digital platform containing 18 short assessment tools.
The tools can be used individually or combined according to the person, the question being asked and the outcome that needs to be supported.
They are organised into three connected areas.
Capabilities
Understanding needs and barriers
Capabilities consider how the person:
- communicates;
- learns;
- manages wellbeing;
- makes choices and takes action;
- participates socially;
- manages everyday life.
These areas help identify where the person may need support, adjustment or further assessment.
Characteristics
Understanding strengths and identity
Characteristics consider:
- abilities;
- skills;
- knowledge;
- values;
- interests;
- personality.
These help adults understand what the person can build upon, what may motivate them, what matters to them and which approaches are likely to support engagement.
Competencies
Understanding readiness and potential
Competencies consider:
- work styles;
- ethics;
- environmental fit;
- aptitude;
- attainment;
- adaptability.
These help identify what the person may be ready to develop and how their current profile connects with preparation for adulthood, further education, training, work and meaningful participation.
A different starting point for assessment
Most assessment processes begin with a fixed test and ask the child or young person to fit its structure.
Insights begins with:
- the person;
- their context;
- the question that needs to be answered;
- their aspirations;
- the decision the adults around them need to make.
The relevant tools are then combined to create a proportionate assessment.
For example:
- an early SEND assessment may focus on capabilities, abilities and attainment;
- a review of an unsuccessful intervention may examine strengths, motivation, environmental fit and adaptability;
- a preparation-for-adulthood assessment may draw on the full framework;
- an assessment following acquired or traumatic brain injury may compare current functioning, strengths and changed participation needs.
This means the assessment is built around the person and the intended outcome, rather than forcing every person through the same battery of questions.
The theory behind Insights
Insights is grounded in developmental psychology and occupational psychology.
Development takes place over time
Communication, regulation, learning, relationships, confidence, identity, agency and independence develop through experience.
A difficulty in one area can affect later participation. Equally, the right environment, teaching and opportunities can allow existing strengths to develop in ways that may not have been visible before.
The environment matters
A child may participate successfully in one setting and struggle in another.
This can be influenced by:
- the communication demands;
- sensory conditions;
- routines and expectations;
- teaching style;
- relationships;
- available adjustments;
- opportunities to make choices;
- how success is recognised.
Insights therefore considers the interaction between the person and their environment, rather than assuming that every difficulty sits solely within the child.
Career begins in childhood
From an occupational psychology perspective, a career is not simply a job choice made at 16 or 18.
It is the developing pattern of:
- learning;
- participation;
- roles and relationships;
- choice and agency;
- contribution;
- independence;
- education and training;
- work and meaningful occupation.
Preparation for adulthood therefore starts with the foundations being developed throughout childhood: how a person engages, makes choices, initiates activity, contributes, understands themselves, connects with others, applies learning and reflects on experience.
How the platform works
1. Define
Agree the question, concerns, context, aspirations and decision the assessment needs to support.
2. Assess
Select the relevant tools and bring together evidence from the child or young person, family, school and appropriate professionals.
3. Analyse
Identify strengths, difficulties, patterns, inconsistencies, environmental barriers and gaps requiring further investigation.
4. Plan
Translate the profile into:
- person-centred outcomes;
- curriculum-linked targets;
- reasonable adjustments;
- interventions;
- responsibilities;
- measures of success;
- review dates.
5. Implement
Connect findings to teaching, support, therapy, professional advice, environmental changes and staff or family training.
6. Review
Compare progress with the starting point and agreed outcomes, then revise support as the person’s needs, strengths, environment and aspirations develop.
Insights is designed to support this cycle. It does not diagnose conditions or make automated decisions about placement, funding, eligibility, exclusion or safeguarding.
What the research will do
The platform is already working. The next stage is to establish the evidence required for responsible wider use.
The proposed research programme will:
- review all 18 tools with experts and users;
- test whether questions are clear and understood as intended;
- collect data across UK education and specialist settings;
- examine the reliability and validity of the scored assessments;
- test whether questions or interpretations work differently across groups;
- develop initial UK comparison data where the sample supports it;
- strengthen individual and combined reports;
- develop curriculum-linked targets and review functions;
- create training for schools, families and professionals;
- prepare assessment manuals and independent evidence packs;
- improve accessibility, security and research governance.
The aim is to produce a platform that is not only useful, but also transparent about what the evidence does—and does not—allow users to conclude.
Who we would like to hear from
We welcome expressions of interest from:
- mainstream primary and secondary schools;
- special schools and specialist settings;
- alternative provision;
- further education and post-16 providers;
- multi-academy trusts;
- local authorities;
- case management organisations;
- rehabilitation and acquired-brain-injury services;
- educational, occupational and other psychologists;
- therapists and SEND professionals;
- parent/carer and community organisations;
- universities and research partners;
- organisations interested in future adoption.
What participation might involve
Participation will depend on your organisation, expertise and the stage of the project.
It may include:
- reviewing assessment questions;
- supporting recruitment through an approved research process;
- taking part in cognitive interviews or usability testing;
- completing selected assessments;
- reviewing individual or combined reports;
- supporting test–retest research;
- helping shape curriculum-linked targets;
- reviewing training and implementation materials;
- piloting the platform in a real setting;
- discussing organisational adoption following successful validation.
Submitting an expression of interest does not commit you or your organisation to participating.
Any formal research activity will be covered by separate information, consent, safeguarding, data-protection and participation arrangements.
What participating organisations may gain
Potential partners may receive:
- supported early access to the platform;
- an opportunity to influence the assessments, reports and training;
- structured feedback on implementation and usability;
- access to summary research findings;
- an opportunity to improve consistency across teams or settings;
- priority consideration for later implementation phases;
- the chance to shape a platform intended for real-world use rather than research alone.
Most importantly, partners can help ensure that the final platform reflects the practical realities faced by children, families, teachers, SENCOs and professionals.