Special Educational Needs and Disability: A Guide for Parents

This document in the Downloads box is a guide from the Department for Education.

It provides an introduction to the system intoduced in 2014.

Pages 47-54 contain an extensive list of useful contact details including links for further information and support.

Contents 

 

Foreword

 

4

Introduction

 

5

Who is this guide for?

 

5

What is it about?

 

5

When should I use it?

 

5

How has this guide been produced?

 

6

Definitions of special educational needs and disability

 

7

Special Educational Needs (SEN)

7

Disabilities

8

Where to go for help if you think your child has a special educational need or a disability

 

8

The principles of the system

 

11

Information, advice and support

 

13

The Local Offer

 

16

Support for children and young people with special educational needs

19

SEN support

 

19

Education, Health and Care needs assessments and plans

 

22

Requesting an EHC needs assessment

 

22

Deciding whether to conduct an EHC needs assessment

 

22

Conducting an EHC needs assessment

 

22

Deciding whether an EHC plan is needed

 

23

Preparing an EHC plan

 

23

What you can do if you disagree with your local authority’s decisions

 

24

Personal Budgets

 

25

Support for the under 5s

Children under 2

27

27

Support for children of school age

 

30

Young people aged 16 and over in further education

 

34

Preparing for adulthood

 

37

Children and young people in specific circumstances

 

40

Challenging or disagreeing with decisions

 

42

Disagreement resolution

 

42

Mediation

 

45

Appealing to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal

 

44

Disagreeing about other things

 

44

Further information and useful contacts

 

47

Glossary

 

55

Annex: Special educational needs and disabilities – moving from the old to the new system

 

56

Transferring children and young people from statements and LDAs to EHC plans

 

57

What if my local authority is part way through assessing on 1 September 2014?

 

57

What if I disagree with my local authority?

 

58

Actions

Page last reviewed: 11/10/2023

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