Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is a term used to describe learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for a child or young person to learn compared to children of the same age.
What does SEND stand for?
SEND stands for special educational needs and disabilities.
What is SEN?
SEN refers to children with special educational needs, but not necessarily with disabilities.
SEN stands for special educational needs.
Difference between SEN and SEND
Your child’s school or nursery might use the term SEND or SEN. Both are commonly used.
Although they are often used interchangeably, they do have slightly different meanings.
The term SEND includes all children with disabilities, even if they might not have special educational needs.
SEN focuses on children with special educational needs, not necessarily with disabilities.
Not all people with special educational needs have disabilities. And not everyone with disabilities has SEN.
What are special educational needs?
All children may have difficulties learning at some stage.
For most children, the challenges can be overcome with support from home and teachers at school.
However, if your child has special educational needs and/or disabilities, they are likely to need extra support, or support in a different way, to make sure they can learn.
Your child may have SEN because of a diagnosed medical condition or a disability. Or they may have SEN without a diagnosis or disability.
According to the Children and Families Act 2014, a child has SEND if “they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her”.
A child or young person of compulsory school age is considered to have SEND if they either:
- experience significantly greater difficulty in learning compared to most others of the same age
- have a disability that limits or prevents them from accessing educational resources typically available to peers of the same age in mainstream schools or post-16 institutions
Children with SEND may require additional support or tailored provision to ensure they have equal opportunities to succeed alongside their peers.
Disabilities
Many children and young people with SEND may also have a disability. Legally, a disability is defined as a physical or mental condition that has a long-term (lasting a year or more) and significant negative impact on their ability to perform everyday tasks.
The Equality Act 2010 provides further guidance on what constitutes a disability and outlines the responsibilities of early years providers, schools, colleges, other educational institutions, and local authorities in supporting children and young people with disabilities.
Further information:
- SEND Local Offer website - What is SEND?
- GOV.UK- Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
- NHS website - Special educational needs and disability (SEND)