Co‑production Week: Building Equitable Support With the People Who Use It

Summary

For many disabled people, support often feels like something that happens to them, not with them. Co‑production changes that.

Co‑production Week is an annual reminder of a principle that should guide every part of health, education and social care: people who are most affected by decisions must be shaping them. The disability rights movement captured this clearly with the slogan “Nothing About Us Without Us”. It states that services cannot claim to be inclusive if the people who rely on them were absent from the room where decisions were made.

Across the UK, people who receive health, education, and social care continue to face deep inequalities. These inequalities are structural and persistent, appearing in avoidable deaths, missed diagnoses, inaccessible processes, poverty, inappropriate inpatient care, and the routine dismissal of people’s communication and needs. As Health, Social Care and Community Development Consultant Sarah Holmes explains:

“The gaping divide between their life experiences compared to other people in the population is huge, and it’s rooted in societal attitudes, poor funding and system barriers that cause division and separation.”

This reality is exactly why co‑production is so important. Support services for people with SEND, or any group facing vulnerability, exclusion or inequality, must be shaped by the people who use them, not simply designed with them in mind. Co‑production Week is an excellent opportunity to explore what co‑production means, how it works in practice, and why it matters.

What Co‑production Means

Co‑production is a way of working where people with lived experience are involved from the very beginning of a project and lead all the way through. Their knowledge and expertise is treated as essential, not optional.

The Co‑production Collective describes co‑production as working in a way that:

• builds strong relationships
• shares power and decision‑making
• includes and values every voice
• makes sure everyone benefits
• uses reflection and learning at every stage

They also explain why co‑production is needed:

“Those who will actually be affected by a project, programme or policy don’t often get the chance to influence its design and development… When done well, co-production can be transformative.”

Co‑production is becoming more common, but true co‑production still takes time, care and commitment.

The Co‑production Cycle

Co‑production happens in stages. Each stage builds on the one before it, and together they create a way of working that keeps people centred throughout.

Priority‑setting  

• People with lived and living experience identify where support is missing and highlight the gaps that affect them. This is the stage where the group agrees that a need is important and should be treated as a priority.

Design  

• What does it look like? What does it feel like? How is it delivered? Services, resources or support are planned together. Accessibility, communication and adjustments are built in from the start. 

Delivery  

• Support is carried out in partnership. People with lived experience shape the discussions about how things are working day‑to‑day.

Monitoring  

• Everyone checks whether the service is working well for the people using it. Feedback is gathered in accessible ways.

Review  

• The group reflects on what worked and what didn’t. Honest feedback is welcomed and taken seriously.

Development  

• Services are improved based on what has been learned.

Renewed delivery  

• The updated service is put into practice again, shaped by everything learned along the way.

This cycle keeps co‑production active, practical and meaningful.

A clear example of co‑production comes from Neurodivergence & Co-production Consultant Sara Mae, who helped design a recruitment process with a young person.

As she explains:

“When recruiting for a co-production officer I approached a Youth Participation and Involvement colleague. Their team had successfully developed a Co-production policy including training, support and remuneration for young people to be equitably involved. This meant that co-production with a young person could begin with all preparatory work having been completed. Young people had received training to interview prospective applicants, for example care-experienced young people forming a panel to interview Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs). I met with a young person and supported them to design interview questions that were important to them. They prioritised questions related to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. They wrote the questions and later worked with their Youth Worker to finalise the format and define the scoring criteria, which all members of the recruitment panel used. I stayed in touch with the young person prior to the interviews, established their needs and ensured their needs were met throughout the day. I ensured that members of the recruitment panel met the young person before interviews commenced to establish rapport, the young person decided where they wanted to sit and which order the panel would ask questions to maximise their comfort and confidence. The young person was asked to offer their feedback about what had worked well and what could be improved, which would influence future co-production recruitment. “

This example shows how thoughtful preparation supports co-design, delivery, and evaluation. This leads naturally to the role of storytelling, and how actively listening to these stories allows us to make accessible adjustments. Sarah Holmes describes this as essential:

“Narratives impact people in a way that data does not.”

Stories help people understand experiences that numbers cannot capture. They also allow people to communicate in ways that suit them — through words, pictures, movement, sensory experiences or art.

Co‑production works best when people can share their stories in the way that feels right for them.”

Co‑production is also supported by law. The Care Act 2014 says that people should be involved in shaping their own care and support. It encourages councils and services to work with individuals, families and communities when designing support. This means co‑production is not just good practice, it is expected.

Co‑production at SEND Tutoring

SEND Tutoring is proud to be supporting Co‑production Week 2026 and is beginning its own co‑production journey. Early conversations have started with local authorities and specialist consultants, including Sara Mae, to explore how co‑production can shape the way services are offered and delivered.

Co‑production already influences how our work is carried out with families and young people. Every family is different, and support is led by their individual needs, communication styles and ways of working. Our aim is to strengthen how feedback is gathered directly from the young people who receive tutoring, and to build systems that make their voices central to decision‑making.

SEND Tutoring hopes to create a small panel or group for young people with SEND who want to be involved in co‑production. This group would help shape teaching materials, accessibility, communication approaches and the overall experience of our support.

Young people’s insight is essential, and anyone interested in discussing the future of co-production at SEND Tutoring is welcome to get in touch with Ella, SEND Tutoring’s copywriter: ella@sendtutoring.co.uk.

A Commitment Beyond One Week

Co‑production Week encourages us to reflect on how services are built and who gets to develop them. It also reminds us that co‑production carries on long after the week ends, and we continue working to improve both the support we offer and the ways people can access it. As more voices join in, co‑production grows and adapts. New perspectives help create better resources, clearer communication and more accessible teaching materials.

Sara Mae describes this ongoing process clearly:

“Co-production is never a finished product. It is always evolving. And the reason that it’s always evolving is because we always hope for more people to join co-production with different identities, different experiences, different perspectives, to be incorporated. Co-production should never be stagnant and should always be improving.”

This evolving nature of co‑production aligns with the Co‑production Collective’s guidance, which highlights how co‑production is strengthened through shared power, reflective practice and the inclusion of diverse voices. As they explain:

“Co‑production grows when people build relationships, share decisions, and make space for every voice to be heard and valued.”

Every young person we meet brings their own story, their own way of communicating, and their own hopes for what learning can feel like. Co‑production gives us the chance to listen closely to those stories and let them drive the path forward. SEND Tutoring remains committed to evolving and adapting our support around and with each learner. As our journey continues, we will keep building a space where young people feel seen, heard and meaningfully involved, a space where their experience guides the work, and they can see the impact of their collaboration.

Support for Every Learner
Discover how SEND Tutoring supports students with a wide range of needs, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, PDA, SEMH, epilepsy, and more. 

Resources and Insights 

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Ella Jones

If you’re looking for support for a child or young person with special educational needs or a disability, book a free call with us today and find out how we can help.