What is meant by special educational needs?

A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.

A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

• has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or

• has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions

​​​​​​​ For children aged two or more, special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools, maintained nursery schools, mainstream post-16 institutions or by relevant early years providers.

1.  A child under compulsory school age has special educational needs if he or she is likely to fall within the definition in paragraph 1) above when they reach compulsory school age or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them (Section 20 Children and Families Act 2014)

The 2014 SEN Code of Conduct outlines 4 areas of need: 

1. Communication and interaction

2. Cognition and learning

3. Social, emotional and  mental health

4. Sensory and/or physical