SEND stands for special educational needs and disabilities, which can affect a child or young person's ability to learn. In England, a child has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provision. Help comes through SEN support in school or, for more complex needs, an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
Key points
✓SEND stands for special educational needs and disabilities.
✓You can ask your local authority to carry out an EHC needs assessment, and a young person aged 16 to 25 can ask for one themselves.
✓The local authority will tell you within 16 weeks whether an EHC plan is going to be made.
✓The local authority has 20 weeks from the date it receives the request to give you the final EHC plan.
✓Under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, a local authority in England must arrange suitable education for a child who cannot attend school because of illness, exclusion or otherwise.
What does SEND mean?
SEND stands for special educational needs and disabilities. Under section 20 of the Children and Families Act 2014, a child or young person has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. GOV.UK says SEND can affect a child's:
behaviour or ability to socialise, for example struggling to make friends
reading and writing, for example because of dyslexia
ability to understand things
concentration levels, for example because of ADHD
physical ability
If you think your child may have special educational needs, contact the SEN co-ordinator (SENCO) at their school or nursery, or your local council if your child is not in a school or nursery. Our guide to whether ADHD is a disability covers the wider legal test.
What is SEN support?
SEN support is help given in school, such as speech therapy. For children aged 5 to 15, talk to the teacher or SENCO if you think your child needs, for example, a special learning programme, extra help from a teacher or assistant, work in a smaller group, or help with physical or personal care such as eating, getting around school safely or using the toilet. If your child needs more support than their school provides, they may need an EHC plan.
How do you apply for an EHCP?
An EHC plan is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through SEN support. It identifies educational, health and social needs and sets out the support to meet them.
1
Ask for an EHC needs assessment
You can ask your local authority to carry out an assessment if you think your child needs an EHC plan. A young person aged 16 to 25 can ask themselves, and so can anyone else who thinks an assessment may be necessary, including doctors, health visitors, teachers and family friends.
2
Provide evidence
If the local authority carries out an assessment, you may be asked for reports from your child's school, nursery or childminder, doctors' assessments and a letter from you about your child's needs.
3
Get the decision
The local authority will tell you within 16 weeks whether an EHC plan is going to be made for your child.
4
Comment on the draft plan
The local authority sends you a draft EHC plan. You have at least 15 days to comment, including asking for a particular special school or specialist college.
5
Receive the final plan
The local authority has 20 weeks from the date it receives the request for the assessment to give you the final EHC plan.
You may be able to get a personal budget if your child has an EHC plan or has been told they need one. You can take it as direct payments, have the local authority or school hold it while you decide how it is spent, or have someone else manage it, or a mix of all three.
Can you challenge an EHCP decision?
You can challenge your local authority about:
✓Yes: a decision not to carry out an assessment
✓Yes: a decision not to create an EHC plan
✓Yes: the special educational support in the EHC plan
✓Yes: the school named in the EHC plan
If you cannot resolve the problem with your local authority, you can appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal. GOV.UK lists the IPSEA advice line, 0800 018 4016, and the Contact a Family helpline, 0808 808 3555, for advice.
What is section 19 of the Education Act 1996?
Section 19 says each local authority in England must arrange suitable education, at school or elsewhere, for children of compulsory school age who, because of illness, exclusion from school or otherwise, may not otherwise receive suitable education for any period.
That education must be full-time, unless the local authority considers that full-time education would not be in the child's best interests for reasons relating to their physical or mental health, in which case it can be part-time. Our guide to education otherwise than at school (EOTAS) covers education arranged outside school under an EHC plan.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
England only. The EHC plan system and section 20 are part of the Children and Families Act 2014 rules for children and young people in England with special educational needs or disabilities.
Scotland. The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 uses the term additional support needs: a child has them where, for whatever reason, they are, or are likely to be, unable without additional support to benefit from school education.
Wales. Wales has an additional learning needs (ALN) system under the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act, and the Welsh Government says you can get help with additional learning needs from your local authority.
Northern Ireland. nidirect says a child has special educational needs if they have a learning problem or disability that makes it more difficult for them to learn than most children their age, and that special educational needs is a legal definition.
Our rights guides cover disability, health and other rights for families.
You can ask your local authority to carry out an assessment if you think your child needs an EHC plan. A young person aged 16 to 25 can ask themselves, and so can anyone else who thinks an assessment may be necessary, including doctors, health visitors, teachers and family friends.