Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

The Children and Families Act 2014 (CFA 2014) came into force on 1 September 2014, replacing the Education Act 1996 (EA 1996), under which children received provision through statements of special educational need (SEN). CFA 2014 required statements to be replaced in England with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. In Wales, Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 (ALNET(W)A 2018) and is now largely in force together with a new Additional Learning Needs Code, which will abolish statements and learning disability assessments (LDA) replacing them with individual development plans (IDP). There will be a transitional implementation over a number of years.

CFA 2014 (England)

Under CFA 2014, a child or young person has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provisions to be made for them. Special educational provisions are additional or different from that which would normally be provided for children or young people of the same age. This extends the definition under the EA 1996 to young people as well as children and also includes

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