Statement of special educational needs

In England, a statement of special educational needs was the document a council Local authority Your local council. In England, Wales and Scotland, this is the body you ask to assess what extra help your child needs. Read the full definition of Local authority issued after a statutory assessment Statutory assessment (Northern Ireland) A close look at what help your child needs at school, done by the Education Authority in Northern Ireland. It can lead to a statement. Read the full definition of Statutory assessment (Northern Ireland) , setting out what a child needed and what the council had to provide. People often called the process statementing.

The Children and Families Act 2014 replaced them. The Department for Education's guide to the reforms says the Act provides, from September 2014, for Education, Health and Care plans to replace statements and Learning Difficulty Learning difficulty The legal phrase schools use when learning is much harder for a child than for most children their age. It does not mean low ability, and it is not the same as a learning disability. Read the full definition of Learning difficulty Assessments. Children who already had a statement Statement of SEN in Northern Ireland The legal paper in Northern Ireland that sets out a child's help at school. England ended statements, but they still run in Northern Ireland. Read the full definition of Statement of SEN in Northern Ireland were moved across during a changeover period, and the law made provision for children whose EHC needs assessment could not be secured before 1 April 2018. The Department was explicit that nobody should simply lose their statement because the system was changing.

So in England, a statement is now an EHC plan EHCP A legal document, used in England, that sets out a child's needs and the support they must get. It is for children who need more help than their school can give on its own. Read the full definition of EHCP . If you are holding an old statement and it was never converted, that is worth raising with your council.

This is one of the places the four UK nations differ. Northern Ireland still issues statements of special educational needs SEND SEND is England's word for children who need extra help to learn. The rest of the UK uses other words, and other rules. Read the full definition of SEND , through the Education Authority, so a parent in Northern Ireland using the word is describing something current. Wales has moved to Individual Development Plans, and Scotland uses Co-ordinated Support Plans.