RSI and allies march to stop profiling of autistic children 

28th May 2026

On Friday 22 May, RSI joined neurodivergent people, child development experts, campaigners and other allies at Parliament Square to demand that Ofsted stop profiling autistic children as potential ‘extremists’. 

The rally follows months of campaigning, after RSI exposed nationwide training materials from Ofsted – the UK’s regulator of schools – claiming that autistic people are susceptible to extremism because of their ‘special interests’ and ‘social communication difficulties’. The issue is so important, and Ofsted’s training has now attracted so much criticism, that prominent Labour MP Angela Rayner has formally written to Prime Minister Keir Starmer about it. 

Our march on 22 May saw dozens of campaigners deliver a letter to 10 Downing Street calling for Ofsted to withdraw these training materials. We joined families, campaign groups, an MP and high-profile advocates such as TV presenter Chris Packham, actor Kimberley Nixon, comedian Johnny Vegas and activist and host of a podcast on neurodivergence, Dr Mine Conkbayir.  

Following RSI’s publication of Ofsted’s training materials, which was subsequently covered in The Guardian, autistic people, families, and allies have led the public pushback. While Ofsted has sought to justify its approach, RSI has shown that its claims are not supported by the evidence. Instead, they continue to harm autistic people across Great Britain. 

Following Friday’s march, it appears that Ofsted has removed these harmful and offensive statements from its national training for school inspectors, and RSI is now working to confirm that the statements have been fully withdrawn. It will take more time and activism to undo the damage, but this is a crucial step. 

RSI continues to call on Ofsted to formally revoke its guidance and issue a public apology.  

In the meantime, it is important to note that this problem does not begin or end with Ofsted. The guidance we uncovered reflects the flawed logic at the heart of the Prevent strategy: that it’s possible to detect what people think and, based on this, how dangerous they are.  

We continue to call for the government to scrap Prevent in its entirety and adopt a real, evidence-based violence prevention plan that tackles all forms of violence.