Special Educational Needs resources

Special Educational Needs

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A child or young person (aged 16 or over) has Special Educational Needs (SEN) if he or she 'has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special education provision to be made for him or her'.

Children and Families Act 2014, section 20 (1)

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A child or young person is considered to have a learning difficulty if they: 

• have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age; or

• have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post 16 institutions.

Children and Families Act 2014, section 20 (2)

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A child under compulsory school age has a learning difficulty or disability if either of the above are likely when they are of compulsory school age (or would be likely, if no special educational provision were made).

Children and Families Act 2014, section 20 (3)

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A person is classed as disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Equality Act 2010, section 6 (1)​

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Special Educational Provision

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Special educational provision, for a child aged two or more or a young person, means educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for others of the same age in—

(a) mainstream schools in England

(b) maintained nursery schools in England

(c) mainstream post-16 institutions in England, or

(d) places in England at which relevant early years education is provided.

Special educational provision for a child aged under two means educational provision of any kind.

Children and Families Act 2014, section 21

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Areas of SEN

 

The four broad areas of SEN are defined in the SEND Code of Practice 2015, paras 6.28-6.34, as:

• Communication and Interaction

• Cognition and Learning

• Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties

• Sensory and/or Physical