EastEnders star Kellie Bright has said it felt like a “battle” to secure the right education for her autistic son, as she meets other families facing similar challenges in a new BBC Panorama documentary.
The actress, best known for playing Linda Carter, revealed her son has autism, dyslexia and ADHD, and described how she and her husband spent “months of perseverance and hard work” trying to access the right support for him.
“It took months of perseverance and hard work from my husband and I to try to get the right education for him. At times, it felt like a battle,” she wrote in an article for the BBC ahead of the programme’s broadcast.
Bright detailed how they spent hours filling out forms to apply for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) — a legally binding document outlining the support a child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) requires.
In Kellie Bright – Autism, School and Families on the Edge, the actress meets parents across England struggling to navigate the same system.
Among them is Tunde, whose 15-year-old son Buddy is autistic. After moving to London in October 2024, she applied to more than 10 schools but said most were either full or unable to provide extra support without an EHCP.
Buddy’s first EHCP application was rejected before he was assessed. His mother had to reapply — a process so time-consuming she temporarily stepped away from her work as a midwife and health visitor.
“I can’t do the parenting. I can’t get him to these appointments, and work at the same time,” she said. “It was a toss-up — and my son won.”
Although Buddy has now been granted an EHCP, he is still being taught in a library. The council has agreed he can attend an independent school for children struggling in mainstream education, but Tunde said she remains uncertain whether it will meet his needs.
Southwark Council said it takes the family’s concerns “very seriously” and will continue to support them “to ensure they receive the provision they need without further delay”.
Bright also spoke to Jacqui Russell, Conservative councillor and cabinet member for children, young people and learning at West Sussex County Council, who admitted: “The current system is very adversarial. Our parents are increasingly tired, anxious and fed up of fighting… The current system doesn’t work. It’s broken.”
The number of children in England with EHCPs has nearly doubled in the past five years — from 353,995 in 2019 to 638,745 in January 2025 — leaving councils with combined high-needs funding deficits estimated at more than £3.3 billion by next year.
The Department for Education is due to outline reforms to the SEND system in its forthcoming Schools White Paper. While some parents fear the changes could reduce access to EHCPs, Education Minister Georgia Gould insisted “there will always be a legal right to additional support”.
She told Bright: “We’re wanting to put more support in earlier. Where people have fought for support, and that’s in place, we want to make sure that continues.”
The National Autistic Society said Bright’s documentary “captures the exhaustion, trauma and anxiety” faced by families and children who have to fight for their basic right to an education, describing the current process as a “deliberate policy of fatigue” that also affects schools. The charity said a lack of adequate funding, training and resources is the root cause of the problem, adding that both parents and local authorities agree the current system “does not work and is failing children”. It called on the Government to urgently reform what it described as a “broken” SEND system.
Panorama: Kellie Bright – Autism, School And Families On The Edge is on BBC One at 8pm on Monday October 6 and on BBC iPlayer now.
