Experts at hand
Experts at Hand
The ‘Experts at Hand’ programme is part of the government’s proposed national SEND Reforms. It works by bringing education and health experts (like educational psychologists and speech and language therapists) directly into mainstream settings - working closely with education professionals from schools, early years and post-16 settings. Together they will identify and respond to children and young people's needs earlier and more effectively. Children and young people will not need a diagnosis to benefit from support through Experts at Hand. The focus is on specialists working with and supporting settings to understand and respond to their needs, rather than waiting for a medical diagnosis or formal assessment.
You can read more about Experts at Hand on the Department for Education website.
Developing the Hertfordshire model
In Hertfordshire, we will be developing our local Experts at Hand model over the course of this academic year. In April 2026 we held a SEND Reform co-production session attended by more than 130 representatives from schools, settings, and families. The feedback gathered from this event is helping to shape the model and inform our next steps.
We are not starting from scratch: Hertfordshire already has a range of services that work alongside, and support, schools and settings. Over the coming academic year, our focus will be on increasing capacity, and co-designing a more joined-up approach of services working together to deliver support to schools and settings. This model will be shaped by what we have heard from families, schools and settings, while also reflecting the Experts at Hand principles set out by the Department for Education.
Services across the local authority and health will work closely with schools, early years providers, post-16 settings, and families to ensure the Experts at Hand model meets the needs of Hertfordshire’s children and young people, and works well for local settings. We are already taking steps to set up the Experts at Hand support, which will be available later in the 26/27 academic year. There will be further opportunities for schools and settings to help co-design the model, and we will share details of how to get involved as work develops. In the meantime, settings will continue to have access to the wide range of support already available from specialist services, including:
- Educational Psychology Service
- Speech, Language, Communication and Autism Team
- The Cognition and Learning team
- Deaf and Hearing Support Service
- Physical and Neurological Impairment Team
- Vision impairment team
- Early Years SEND team
- Services for Young People
- ASK SALI
- Children and young people’s physiotherapy service
- Children and young people’s occupational therapy service
- Children and young people’s speech and language therapy service
- Children and young people’s sensory processing service
- Mental Health Support Teams
Experts at Hand is designed to strengthen support available in mainstream settings and should be provided in addition to existing statutory support.
This page will be updated as further information becomes available, and the Hertfordshire model is developed. In early October 2026 we will be running a co-design week with opportunities for representatives from schools and settings to get involved in shaping the Hertfordshire model of Experts at Hand. Keep an eye out for information on this in the school bulletin and through our SENCo Online Feedback Group.
We will be updating the information for families too. This page on the Local Offer website How your child is supported in mainstream school and the 'ladder' of support has information on the Experts at Hand model and how children are already supported in mainstream settings.