Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the (a) diagnosis of and (b) training for foetal alcohol spectrum disorders in schools.

The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

All teachers are teachers of pupils with SEND, and the department is committed to ensuring that all pupils receive excellent support from their teachers. To support all teachers, we are implementing a range of high-quality teacher development programmes, from initial teacher training and into early career teaching, through to the reformed suite of leadership and specialist national professional qualifications, to ensure that teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed.

The revised Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework, which all new entrants to the profession from September 2025 will benefit from, has been designed around how to support all pupils to succeed, including those with SEND. Alongside this, the department funds SEND-specific continuing professional development, which provides resources to promote high-quality teaching for pupils with SEND.

Pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education. In 2014, the government introduced a new duty on schools to support pupils with all medical conditions and has published statutory guidance intended to help governing bodies meet their legal responsibilities. This guidance sets out the arrangements they will be expected to make, based on good practice. Schools should ensure they are aware of any pupils with medical conditions and should have policies and processes in place to ensure these can be well managed.

​The government recognises that foetal alcohol spectrum disorder can have a significant impact on the early years development of children and on their life chances. As a result, schools must use their best endeavours to make sure a child or young person gets the special educational provision they need, this includes monitoring the progress of pupils regularly and putting support in place where needed, including arranging diagnostic tests where appropriate.