I wrote The Freedom Approach for children who could not be in school. What they needed turns out to be what every setting is now being asked to provide: early assessment of need without waiting for a diagnosis, a written plan reviewed at least yearly, an inclusive environment, adaptive teaching, and family partnership as a requirement rather than a courtesy.
Find your setting below. Each one says what you need, what it looks like, and what it costs.
The figures on this page were checked against published sources on 22 October 2026. Where a figure could not be verified it is not here. Prices shown are the standard rate. Founding cohort prices, 20 per cent off in year one until 31 August 2027, are on the licence page.
Where it is used
Nurseries, preschools and childminders
You need a whole setting approach to equity that an inspector can see, that does not wait for a diagnosis, and that a tired level 2 and level 3 team can run.
The framework here.The Early Years Ecosystem is the framework for your whole setting. The Freedom Approach is the pedagogy inside it for the children who need more, and MeMap works from the first key person conversation.
The offer. Ecosystem Practitioner £220 a year or £22 a month. Ecosystem Accredited setting £795 joining and £470 a year. The joining fee sits inside the Inclusive Early Years Fund minimum. Find out more
Why this matters now
Inclusion has been its own evaluation area in Ofsted inspections of early years settings since November 2025. Councils pass the £47 million Inclusive Early Years Fund to settings as a single lump sum, and the Department for Education recommends a minimum of about £1,000 a setting. Staffing is the binding constraint.
Primary schools
You need to run the universal and targeted tiers for neurodivergent children without waiting for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), a plan format that will become an Individual Support Plan, and an answer for children in Years 5 and 6 for whom school has stopped working.
The framework here. A Setting licence for the SEND team: Foundations for all staff, Practitioner for the SENCO and one lead, MeMap and the Holistic Individual Learning Plan (HILP) for children on SEN support, and any nurture space run to the twenty five principles. The Ecosystem for nursery and reception.
The offer. Whole team day £800. Setting licence £1,250 joining and £470 a year. Find out more
Why this matters now
Around 14 per cent of primary pupils were persistently absent in 2025 to 2026, most new EHC plans go to children aged 4 to 10, and the proposed universal tier and Individual Support Plans will land here first.
Secondary schools and sixth forms
You need something for the autistic, ADHD and demand avoidant students who are masking, burning out, on part time timetables or drifting into severe absence, that the pastoral team, the SENCO and the mental health support team can run together.
The framework here. A Setting licence for the SEND and pastoral team. MeMap completed by the student, the HILP as the plan, and a neuro-affirming alternative to the sanctions ladder for this group, carried through to post 16.
The offer. Whole team day £800. Setting licence £1,250 joining and £470 a year. Find out more
Why this matters now
Around 24 per cent of secondary pupils were persistently absent in 2025 to 2026, and pupils on SEN support have the highest suspension rate of any SEN group. Mental health support teams now cover nearly 80 per cent of state funded secondary schools.
Multi academy trusts
You need one model, one training programme, one plan format and one review cycle, with your own people able to run it after the first year.
The framework here. The Group licence: every school licensed, an implementation roadmap across the trust, train the trainer so the trust runs Foundations itself, quarterly review with the trust SEND lead, and cohort evaluation for your governors.
The offer. Priced per school, on enquiry. Find out more
Why this matters now
One decision reaches every school. Every school must now evidence inclusion, and trusts will be asked to deliver the tiered model.
Independent schools
Every neurodivergent pupil kept is now worth keeping, and parents want to see an offer for neurodivergent pupils that is more than a learning support department.
The framework here. A Setting licence, with Practitioner for class leads and the HILP for every pupil with a plan.
The offer. Whole team day £900. Setting licence £1,250 joining and £470 a year. Find out more
Why this matters now
VAT on fees since January 2025, and 30,000 fewer pupils since then, according to the Independent Schools Council. Independent special schools need to show councils what an average of around £61,500 a place, as estimated by Schools Week, buys.
Special schools and resource bases
You need a neuro-affirming pedagogy that can replace or sit alongside positive behaviour support, with a document that satisfies the annual review.
The framework here. A Setting licence, Practitioner for class leads, MeMap and the HILP for every pupil, and the clear position that no compliance or behaviour based approach is used.
The offer. Whole team day from £800. Setting licence £1,250 joining and £470 a year. Find out more
Why this matters now
Resource bases and SEN units are the preferred growth route in mainstream, and special schools are full of autistic and demand avoidant children for whom behaviourist approaches are contested.
Alternative provision, registered and unregistered
You need to show a commissioner, a named school and a parent something written, trained and checked, and to deliver national curriculum learning as well as wellbeing.
The framework here. This is the natural home of The Freedom Approach. A Small provider or Setting licence, listing, and the practice review as the quality assurance you do not yet have.
The offer. Small provider licence £750 joining and £295 a year. Setting licence £1,250 joining and £470 a year. Find out more
Why this matters now
The Children's Commissioner found over 24,000 children in unregistered alternative provision, more than half of them with SEND, and national quality standards for EOTAS and non school provision have just been consulted on.
EOTAS packages and specialist tutors
For education otherwise than at school (EOTAS). The tutor needs a pedagogy and a plan the council and the named school will accept. The named school needs a way to manage packages it did not design. The family needs the package to hold.
The framework here. The Package licence: MeMap, the HILP and the recording framework for the child, Foundations for every adult on the package, and Practitioner for the lead tutor.
The offer. Package licence £450 in year one and £150 a year to renew. Practitioner £595. Find out more
Why this matters now
The Department for Education consultation that closed on 18 September 2026 proposed that every child on a package be connected to a named school responsible for managing it, and that providers meet national standards.
Home educating, unschooling and school distressed families
You need a way to run learning for a neurodivergent child that is not school at the kitchen table, a document that will satisfy a local authority when the register arrives, and a community.
The framework here. Foundations at the family rate, MeMap and the HILP for your child, and the Neuroverse Community groups as the community. A family learns the approach rather than licensing it.
The offer. Foundations £95 for parents, carers, home educators and unschoolers. Find out more
Why this matters now
126,000 children were home educated in autumn 2025, mental health is the most common known reason, and registers of children not in school are coming under the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026.
Community groups, clubs and the voluntary sector
You need a pedagogy to name in a funding bid, training that counts towards continuing professional development for volunteers, and the credibility of being licensed.
The framework here. The Small provider licence, with your group listed, and Foundations at the volunteer rate. A bid that names a licensed pedagogy with a practice review is stronger than one that does not.
The offer. Small provider licence £750 joining and £295 a year. Volunteer Foundations £120. Find out more
Why this matters now
Funders want a named approach they can see, and councils are commissioning community early intervention under their SEND reform plans.
Local authorities and integrated care boards
You need something for the reform plan under early intervention that reduces the flow into EHC plans, tribunals and £61,500 placements, that covers early years to post 16, and that comes with training and a review so you can show it is being done.
The framework here. The Group licence for a cohort of settings and packages, with train the trainer so your own advisory teachers run Foundations, and cohort evaluation as your evidence. The Ecosystem for the early years cohort under the Inclusive Early Years Fund.
The offer. Priced per setting or per package, on enquiry. Find out more
Why this matters now
High needs deficits, with the statutory override running to March 2028 and most historic deficits written off only once a local SEND reform plan is approved, and around 25,000 tribunal appeals a year.
The thread that runs through all eleven
The same tools sit inside The Early Years Ecosystem and The Freedom Approach. A child profiled with MeMap in a nursery at three carries the same document into reception, into a resource base at nine, into an EOTAS package at thirteen and into post 16, with their Holistic Individual Learning Plan updated at every step. The move from early years to Year 1, and every move after it, is where neurodivergent children are most often lost. This is built to follow the child through.
What happens next. Book a free 15 minute call. We talk about your setting and the young people you work with, and whether the approach is right for you.
