Special Educational Needs

Special Educational Needs, arrangements for the identification, assessment, and making of any special provision for children whose learning difficulties or disabilities mean that they will require additional help in order to achieve their full educational potential. Such difficulties may arise from physical disabilities; problems with sight, hearing, or speech; a learning disability; emotional or behavioural difficulties; or a medical or health problem. Other children may have more general difficulties with reading, writing, speaking, or mathematics which will require extra support. Provision to meet special educational needs may take place in ordinary or special schools.

It has been estimated that about 20 per cent of children will have some form of special educational needs during their school careers. For the vast majority of children, such needs will be met by their current school—with outside help if necessary. But for a small minority (in the United Kingdom, around 2 per cent of children), the special educational needs may be of a severity or complexity which requires the local education authority (LEA) to determine and arrange special educational provision for the child. In the United Kingdom this will usually involve a statutory (that is, formal) assessment of the child's special educational needs and the seeking of advice from a range of services to ensure that the assessment is as accurate and comprehensive as possible. There has been ongoing debate about the number of children with special educational needs and the proportion of children so identified will vary from area to area.

At the heart of the work of every school and every class lies a cycle of assessing, planning, teaching, and review of the needs of all children. Such general arrangements in a school will take account of the wide range of the abilities, aptitudes, and interests which every child brings to school. The majority of children will learn and progress within these local arrangements. But those who have difficulty in doing so may have what is termed special educational needs (SEN).

A child may be described as having special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child is regarded as having a learning difficulty if he or she: has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age; has a disability which either prevents or hinders the child from making use of educational facilities of a kind provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local education authority (LEA); or is under five years and falls within the definition given above or would do so if special educational provision was not made for the child (Part III, Education Act 1993).

The definition of a learning difficulty does not include children whose difficulty has arisen solely because the language or form of language in the child's home is different from the language in which he or she is or will be taught.

Special educational provision for a child over the age of two means educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision generally provided for children of the child's age in schools in the area or educational provision of any kind for a child under the age of two.

In practice, learning difficulties may arise from a physical disability, a problem with sight, hearing, or speech, a learning disability, emotional or behavioural difficulty, or a medical or health problem. The extent to which these difficulties affect a child's ability to learn and make progress at school will be affected by a variety of factors, including the school's resources, the availability of additional help, and the stage at which the difficulty is first identified.