The National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers is to investigate how to strengthen SEND training for teacher trainees – as two-thirds of providers say they feel new teachers are not prepared to deal with rising complex needsGovernment plans to boost inclusion in mainstream schools, to help tackle rising SEND numbers. But a new NASBTT survey has found 65 per cent of teacher training providers (49 of 75 respondents) do not think new teachers are properly equipped to meet the demands of more complex SEND in mainstream settings. Hollis said NASBTT is holding focus groups with teacher training providers to “identify examples of strong practice and understand barriers to effective SEND integration within ITT programmes”. It comes as a recent Ofsted review of initial teacher training (ITT) providers found some trainees are receiving “fragmented” SEND training. Meanwhile, a recent rapid evidence review commissioned by the DfE suggested teachers can play a key role in early identification of SEND, but that teacher training in this area “remains limited”.