[2] Currently, a child or young person is considered to have SEN if they have a disability or learning difficulty that means they need special educational provision.
[3] Some examples of SEN include:[4][5] There are numerous types of support available depending on the child or young person's disability.
[8] An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is given to children and young people who are considered to have complex needs.
It should also tell families about training, employment and independent living options available for young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
Stage 1 is when concerns are first raised about a child having SEN, and support is given within the classroom, such as differentiated work or different teaching strategies.
The 1993 Education Act made SENCOs mandatory for all schools and set out guidelines for identifying pupils with SEN and assessing their needs.
[20] Prior to the Children and Families Act 2014, there were three levels of support in England and Wales: In the English law case of Skipper v Calderdale Metropolitan Borough School (2006) EWCA Civ 238, the Court of Appeal allowed the appellant could claim against her former school for failing to diagnose and treat her Dyslexia.
Some councils claimed to be unable to carry out their statutory duties towards SEND children due to lack of funding from the central government.
[27] In 2019 the Education Select Committee of the House of Commons published a report stating reforms introduced in 2014 had been badly implemented damaging many SEND pupils.
School inspections should focus more on SEND, social care ombudsmen and Local Authorities should have greater powers.
Robert Halfon MP said, "The DfE cannot continue with a piecemeal and reactive approach to supporting children with Send.
Rather than making do with sticking plasters, what is needed is a transformation, a more strategic oversight and fundamental change to ensure a generation of children is no longer let down."
[30] Off-rolling is where a pupil is removed from a school's register, often shortly before GCSEs are due to be taken, which can cause the child's education to be discontinued.
[31] There have been claims that children with SEN who are unlikely to achieve the national target of five GCSEs at grades 4 to 9 are being excluded or off-rolled to raise a school's position in league tables.
Figures published in 2009 showed that 17.8% of pupils in English schools have SEN an increase from 14.9% in 2005, leading to claims that schools are labelling too many children as having SEN.[32] Lorraine Petersen, the former chief executive of the National Association of Special Educational Needs, has said "they [parents] feel a label will give the child and perhaps the family additional support that they may not get without it; access to benefits, for instance, or support with exams or a place in a specialist setting.