Identification of special educational needs - United Kingdom (England)

The Education Act 1996, states that a child has special educational needs ‘if he has a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for him’.  Such provision is required when a child:

• has significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of his/her age; or
• has a disability which either prevents or hinders him or her from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided in schools, within the area of the local authority concerned, for children of his/her age; or
• is under the age of five years and is, or would be likely to fall within either of the above paragraphs when over that age, if special educational provision were not made for him/her.

English as an additional language, giftedness and high ability are not included within the definition of special educational needs.

The Equality Act 2010, defines a disabled person as 'someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'.

The Education Act 1996 requires LAs to undertake a multi-professional formal assessment of a child in its area if they believe that the child has special educational needs that are such the LA will probably need to arrange provision over and above what is normally available in a mainstream school and, if necessary, set this out in an SEN statement. 

Local authorities are responsible for arranging assessments of learning difficulties and identifying suitable provision for further education when a young person leaves school; local authorities have a duty to secure that enough suitable post-16 further education and training is provided to meet the reasonable needs of people in their area, including those  aged 19-24 who have a learning difficulty assessment.  In doing so, they must have regard to the people’s learning difficulties.   All pupils who have a statement of special educational need are required to have a Transition Plan, which is drawn up by a wide range of professionals attending the annual review of their statement following their 13th birthday.

The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice gives detailed guidance on effective processes for the identification and assessment of pupils with special educational needs.  It has separate sections on provision in the different phases of education, working in partnership with parents and other agencies, and on pupil participation.  It recommends that schools and LAs adopt a graduated response, documented at each stage and using a range of strategies and means of support for pupils with learning difficulties, starting with those available within the school (or early years provision) and moving on to specialist external support.

The Code of Practice lays out detailed guidance as to the procedures following a decision to undertake a formal multi-agency assessment for a child.  This includes time scales for taking action and regulations regarding informing parents.  

The LA will make a statement of special educational need if the assessment indicates that the special help a child needs cannot reasonably be provided within the resources normally available to the school.  If the LA decides not to make a statement of special educational needs, it must tell the parents of this decision. Parents have a legal right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) if they do not agree with the final statement or if the LA decides not to make a statement. LAs must ensure that the child receives the educational provision specified in the statement of special educational needs. 
 
All statements of special educational needs must be reviewed annually.