APPG for Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) hosts roundtable about Education

On Wednesday 25th June 2025, with the help of Baroness (Estelle) Morris, Vice Chair of the APPG for ABI, members of the National Acquired Brain Injury in Learning and Education Syndicate (N-ABLES) were joined by educators and young people with lived experience at a roundtable to discuss the issues which face children and young people with ABI on their return to education.

The meeting was attended by a number of MPs, peers and other parliamentary staff representing MPs and included three past Education ministers (including two Secretaries of State).

The session was introduced by Dr Emily Bennett, Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Neuropsychologist at Nottingham Children’s Hospital & Chair of the National ABI in Learning and Education Syndicate (N-ABLES) and Dr Gemma Costello Specialist Educational Psychologist Lead for the Cambridge Centre for Paediatric Neuropsychological Rehabilitation & National ABI in Learning and Education Syndicate (N-ABLES) who informed those present about types of brain injury and their prevalence of ABI and also how and why children’s brains are different.

They explained that lived experience, expert opinion and research repeatedly highlight three key challenges when supporting children to return and remain in school after ABI:

1.     insufficient data

2.     lack of training for teachers and SENCOs

3.     timely provision for acquired needs in schools

Lucy Seymour – a very experienced Special Educational Needs Coordinator who works in a Secondary School talked about her experience of supporting three different children with acquired brain injuries and how much more she needed to know and understand to support those individuals. Jo Mitchinson, Head of PHSE and parent of a child with ABI described how she learned from her daughter’s injury to put in place procedures and systems within her school for children with brain injuries and they are now able to accommodate their needs

Victoria and Inara from N-ABLES Young Experts by Experience in Brain Injury group talked about their own injuries and struggles to return to school after the huge trauma caused by their injuries, how it changed them and how inadequate school’s adaptations were.

Sir John Hayes, Chair of the APPG for ABI who has himself a lived experience of brain injury and Damian Hinds who held the position of Secretary of State for Education from 2018-2019 asked a range of questions which inspired a detailed discussion and list of actions to take forward.

Those present talked about how to ensure we have accurate data to know how many children and young people have brain injuries in our schools and track their needs over time.

The need to bring greater awareness to teachers and SENCOs so they feel confident to understand and meet the needs of this group of young people in our schools was also discussed and finally the group talked about how to enable a more flexible and responsive system to those with sudden acquired needs; providing resources at an earlier stage.

Dr Hope Kent, who is conducting research into school outcomes for children with acquired brain injuries was able to answer a number of questions about the published evidence base. On 26^th June Hope discussed her research on the links between exclusion from schools, neuro-disability and prison data and developmental delay and poverty on the Today programme.

A number of actions were agreed at the meeting including raising awareness of the issues amongst Parliamentarians through Parliamentary Questions and debates; requesting that ministers introduce new guidance for the return of children and young people to education who have an acquired brain injury and requesting that schools and educational institutions in the UK track those with acquired brain injuries to ensure a safe return to education, through effective training and data tracking.

A full briefing note about this subject is available here and you can also view Dr Bennett and Dr Costello delivering the presentation here.