What is a statement of special educational needs?
A minority of children may need more help than the school is able to provide at School Action Plus. If your child needs one to one support from an adult for a large part of every school day, or a large amount of help from specialist services, such as speech therapy, the school is unlikely to have the resources to provide this. Your child may therefore require a statement of special educational needs issued by your Local Authority. This is a legal document which sets out all of your child’s difficulties and the additional help that will be given. The Local Authority is responsible for ensuring that all the educational help set out in the statement is provided.
Before a statement is issued, the Local Authority will first carry out a full assessment of all your child’s needs. This is called a statutory assessment. The school or the parent can request the Local Authority to carry out a statutory assessment. The Local Authority has six weeks to consider the request and make a decision.
The Local Authority can refuse a request for a statutory assessment if they do not think it is necessary: for example if they think your child’s difficulties are not severe enough and/or the school can provide the necessary support on School Action or School Action Plus. You can appeal against this refusal to an independent tribunal.
What happens during a statutory assessment?
If the Local Authority agrees to carry out a statutory assessment, they will ask for information from you and the school. They will also ask for reports from an educational psychologist, a medical doctor, and social services (if the child is known to them). They can also ask other agencies involved with the child to contribute to the assessment. You can say if there is anyone else you would like the Local Authority to contact for information about your child. At the end of the process, the Local Authority will decide whether to draw up a statement of special educational needs.
Who should make the request, the parent or the school?
The process and timescales are the same whether a parent or the school requests a statutory assessment. However if you make the request yourself you will know exactly when the process has started. You do not need permission from the school first, but it is a good idea to tell the SENCO you are making the request, and to ask if the school will support your request in writing.
You can find the Local Authority address and name of the Head of Children’s services from your council website.
What happens during a statutory assessment?
If the Local Authority agrees to carry out a statutory assessment, they will ask for information from you and the school. They will also ask for reports from an educational psychologist, a medical doctor, and social services (if the child is known to them). They can also ask other agencies involved with the child to contribute to the assessment. You can say if there is anyone else you would like the Local Authority to contact for information about your child. At the end of the process, the LA will decide whether to draw up a statement of special educational needs.
Who should make the request, the parent or the school?
The process and timescales are the same whether a parent or the school requests a statutory assessment. However if you make the request yourself you will know exactly when the process has started. You do not need permission from the school first, but it is a good idea to tell the SENCO you are making the request, and to ask if the school will support your request in writing.
You can find the Local Authority address and name of the Head of Children’s services from your council website.
A letter to help.
We've developed a model letter you can use to ask the Local Authority to carry out a statutory assessment.
Dear [name of Director of Children’s services]
[Insert child's name and date of birth and the name of the school they attend ]
I am writing as the parent of the above child to ask you to carry out an assessment of his/her special educational needs under section 323 of the 1996 Education Act. I am making this request under section 329 of the 1996 Education Act.
My child has the following special educational needs:
S/he has a diagnosis of...
This affects him/her in the following ways...
S/he has difficulty with...[describe how your child’s difficulties affect his/her education, in the areas of reading, writing and numeracy, social or physical skills, emotion and behaviour]
S/he has received the following additional support in school. [Say if your child is on School Action/Action Plus and list the extra help s/he has received in school. Say if external services have assessed or supported your child, e.g. educational psychologist or dyslexia teacher.]
Sh/e has also received support from: [say if other professionals have assessed your child or provided support e.g. CAMHS, or other medical specialists]
However, my child is likely to need more help than the school is able to provide from within its own resources because: [say if you are particularly worried about your child’s progress and/or behaviour. Mention any evidence for this, e.g. recent exclusions, signs of anxiety, school reports, national curriculum levels, achievement in tests.]
I understand that you are required by law to reply to this request within six weeks. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name and signature]
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