UK (Wales) - Country Background Information
- Describing the forms of education in the country
- Identifying an ‘inclusive setting’ in the country
- What an ‘official decision of SEN’ means in the country
- What ‘out-of-education’ means in the country
The EASIE data collection covers all recognised forms of education at ISCED levels 02, 1, 2 and 3.
This means any type of education organised by or approved by any recognised educational provider in the public or private sector: municipality, local or regional educational provider from the public or private sector, working with/for ministries responsible for education and areas such as health, social, welfare, labour, justice, etc
5–16
What are the typical age ranges for the ISCED levels?
| ISCED LEVEL 02 | ISCED LEVEL 1 | ISCED LEVEL 2 | ISCED LEVEL 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-4 | 4-11 | 11-16 | 16-18 |
In the EASIE data collection, an inclusive setting is operationally defined as:
A recognised form of education where the child/learner follows education in mainstream classes alongside their peers for the largest part – 80% or more – of the school week.
The 80% time placement benchmark clearly indicates that a child/learner is educated in a mainstream class for the majority of their school week. At the same time, it acknowledges possibilities for small group or one-to-one withdrawal for limited periods of time (i.e. 20% or one day a week).
Very few participating countries can provide exact data on children/learners spending 80% of their time in a mainstream group/class. However, all countries can apply one of three agreed proxies that provide an approximation to this benchmark:
- Placement in a mainstream class implies over 80% or more
- Data is available on the number of hours of support allocated to a child/learner
- Placement in a mainstream class implies over 50% or more.
In the EASIE data collection, the agreed operational definition is:
An official decision leads to a child/learner being recognised as eligible for additional educational support to meet their learning needs.
Countries may have different types of official decision, but for all official decisions:
- There has been some form of educational assessment procedure involving different people. This procedure may involve the child/learner, parents, school-based team members, as well as professionals from multi-disciplinary teams from outside the child’s/learner’s (pre-)school.
- There is some form of legal document (plan/programme, etc.) that describes the support the child/learner is eligible to receive, which is used as the basis for decision-making.
- There is some form of regular review process of the child/learner’s needs, progress and support.
An operational definition of an official decision of special educational needs (SEN) – an official decision leads to a child/learner being recognised as eligible for additional educational support to meet their learning needs. An official decision meets the following criteria:
- There has been an educational assessment procedure involving a multi‑disciplinary team.
- The multi-disciplinary team includes members from within and external to the child’s/learner’s school.
- There is a legal document which describes the support the child/learner is eligible to receive and which is used as the basis for planning.
- The official decision is subject to a formal, regular review process.
All data collected relating to children/learners with SEN is in line with this operational definition of an official decision of SEN.
The individual school (usually the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Co-ordinator) will assess the child’s strengths and weaknesses and plan what support is required. Support will consist of the following:
- School Action (SA) – interventions that are additional to or different from those provided as part of the school’s usual differentiated curriculum offer and strategies.
- School Action Plus (SA+) – If SA is not proving sufficient, external support services such as an educational psychologist will usually see the child to further inform planning and assessment of the child. The external specialist may act in an advisory capacity or provide additional specialist assessment or be involved in teaching the child directly.
- Statement – a school, local authority or parent may request a statutory assessment be undertaken if a child is still not progressing satisfactorily. The assessment would involve parents’ and child’s views; copies of the child’s individual progress reports; advice from professionals, e.g. health and social services, if required.
The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice for Wales guidance document provides practical advice to local authorities, maintained schools and others on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for children’s SEN.
Schools should record a child’s progress within an Individual Education Plan (IEP). IEPs should ideally be reviewed termly or at least twice a year. The Welsh Government SEN Code of Practice for Wales guidance document was revised in 2004.
Within the EASIE data collection, specific questions examine children/learners who are out of education. This means children/learners who should, by law, be in some form of recognised education, but who are out of any form of recognised education. A recognised form of education is any type of education organised by or approved by any recognised educational provider in the public or private sector.
These learners are defined as being in ‘Elective Home Education’ with the majority being educated at home. A minority of these children may be flexi-schooled where the child attends school on a part-time basis and is home-schooled for the remainder of the time, but this is usually a short-term measure to address a particular issue of concern.
Our definition of children and young people who are not in any sort of education is ‘Young people not in education, employment or training.’
An out-of-school learner would be defined as a child or young person who is in education (a learner) but is not attending a school. This includes children and young people who are:
- educated other than at school (EOTAS);
- enrolled in a school but educated off-site in provision arranged by the school (often referred to as alternative education);
- electively home educated;
- educated by the youth justice service.