SEN support in schools

This page is all about what support is available for school-age children (ages 5-15) with special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities (SEND) in England.

It can be difficult to decide whether your child would do better in a SEN school, or a mainstream school with SEN support. 

On this page, find out more about choosing and getting into a school, SEN support plans and homeschooling.

On this page:

• Choosing a school for your child
• SEN schools
  • What is a SEN school?
  • How do I get my child into a SEN school?
  • Can my child be refused a place at a SEN school?
  • Moving from a SEN primary school to a SEN secondary school
• SEN support in mainstream schools
  • Can my child go to a mainstream school if they have SEN?
  • Can my child be refused a place in a mainstream school?
  • Getting SEN support in a mainstream school
    • The graduated approach
  • What is the SEND register?
    • How do I know if my child is on the SEND register?
  • What is a SENCo?
  • What is a SEN support plan?
    • SEN support plan examples
  • My child’s school isn’t meeting their SEN needs
    • Preparing for a SEN meeting at school
• School refusal
• Homeschooling

Choosing a school for your child

Like all parents, you will need to make choices about which school you think will be best for your child’s education and development.

It’s worth starting to think about it as early as possible, especially if your child has special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Usually, children start primary school at the start of the term after their fifth birthday. 

You can ask for your child to go to school part time until then. 

If you don’t think they’re ready to start school, you can also ask the school if your child can start later in the school year.

Talk to the schools you’re interested in about your child’s needs and find out what help the school can offer.

You might choose to send your child to a specialist school for children with disabilities, sometimes called a SEN school, or to a mainstream school. 

It’s okay if your child’s needs change, and they later move from a SEN school to a mainstream school or vice versa. 

Some children are registered at a mainstream school and also a SEN school, and attend both part-time. This is called dual registration. 

SEN schools

If your child has complex needs, a specialist school with specially trained teachers, therapists and equipment may be best for them.

Schools that are specially equipped to educate children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are sometimes referred to as:

• SEN schools or SEND schools
• Special schools
• Specialist schools
• Special needs schools
• Special education schools

On this page, we’ll use the phrase SEN schools to mean all schools that specifically teach children with SEN or SEND. 

What is a SEN school?

SEN schools are schools that teach children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. 

Nearly all students of SEN schools have education, health, and care plans, or EHCPs. 

This means that they’ve been assessed by the local authority as needing more support than they can generally get in mainstream schools. 

Find out more about EHCPs.

How do I get my child into a SEN school?

The first step is to get an EHCP for your child. 

Children with an EHCP do not go through the usual admissions system.

Instead, as part of the EHCP, you can say if you want your child to go to a SEN school, and name a school.

You can say which school you want your child to go to when you first get the EHCP or when your child moves to a different phase of education, for example, from primary to secondary.

You can also ask for a change of school at an annual review. 

Find out more about getting an EHCP.

Can my child be refused a place at a SEN school?

Yes, in some situations, your local authority can refuse the school of your choice. 

If you are turned down, ask for detailed reasons. This will help you decide whether you want to appeal. 

Read more about challenging decisions, appeals and tribunals.

Moving from a SEN primary school to a SEN secondary school

If your child has an EHCP, you will be asked which secondary school you would like your child to go to.

You will probably discuss options at the annual review before transfer.

By law, the local authority must name the secondary school by 15 February, for entry in September.

You will need to think about which school you want well before this date. It’s good to start planning when your child is in Year 5 (ages nine to ten) and arrange to visit the schools that you’re interested in.

SEN support in mainstream schools

Can my child go to a mainstream school if they have SEN?

Yes, many children with SEN or SEND go to a mainstream school through the normal admissions procedure.

Can my child be refused a place in a mainstream school?

You have a general right in law to send your child to a mainstream school. 

If you can’t get a place in your mainstream school of choice, your local authority needs to look at other mainstream schools in the area.

The local authority can only insist your child goes to a SEN school against your wishes if:

• Admitting your child to a mainstream school would badly affect other children’s education.
• There are no steps that the mainstream school or local authority can take to make it possible to admit your child without it affecting other children’s education.

Find out more about challenging decisions, appeals and tribunals.

Getting SEN support in a mainstream school

By law, schools must do everything they can to make sure children with SEN/SEND get the extra support they need to achieve as well as they can.

This extra support comes from school staff and staff from outside the school, including educational psychologists, behaviour support staff and speech and language therapists. 

What is the SEND register?

The SEND register (or SEN register) is a list of all the children in a school who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. 

This is so that the school has a record of who has special educational needs, and what kind of support they might benefit from. 

Only the school can decide if a child should be on the SEND register. 

They should take into account information from parents and other professionals. 

How do I know if my child is on the SEND register?

Your child’s school should tell you if your child is on the SEND register. 

If you would like to discuss your child’s inclusion on the SEND register, you should contact their school’s SENco.

What is a SENCo?

SENCo is short for SEN co-ordinator. Your school might call it a SENDCo, or SEND co-ordinator. 

A SENCo is a teacher who is responsible for identifying students with SEN in the school and making sure they get the support they need. 

SENCos should make sure that their school follows the SEND code of practice. 

What is a SEN support plan?

If your child is receiving support because they have SEN (or SEND), the school should draw up a SEN support plan (or SEND support plan).

This should focus on what your child needs and wants to achieve, and how the school will help them to achieve these goals.

The school should give you clear information about the extra support your child is getting. 

The school should also meet with you at least three times a year to review how your child is progressing and decide on next steps. 

These meetings should be on top of regular parents’ evening meetings. 

The school should provide a report on your child’s progress at least once a year.

My child’s school isn’t meeting their SEN needs

If you think your child needs extra support in the classroom, ask to have a meeting with your child’s teacher, the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and any other staff who should attend.

Preparing for a SEN meeting at school

It’s important to spend some time preparing for your meeting with the school to discuss your child’s SEN.

Every school must publish a SEND Information Report. You should be able to find it on their website.

Look at the school’s policies on SEN/SEND, equality and behaviour to see how the school supports pupils with SEN/SEND. 

Gather your own evidence to show the difficulties your child is having. This can include:

• Examples of schoolwork, homework, school reports and test results.
• Individual education plans, SEN support plans and behaviour support plans.
• Letters you’ve written to the school and home- or schoolbook entries.
• Any relevant professional reports.
• Information about any support your child may have had in a previous school.

Write a list of your concerns, covering:

• Progress, schoolwork, concentration levels, physical skills and relationships. 
• Behaviour at school.
• Behaviour and mood at home.
• How your child feels about school.
• Other issues such as bullying and whether any action has been taken so far.
  

During the meeting, you could ask questions like:

• Is my child getting SEN support?
• Can I see my child’s SEN support plan?
• What assessments have you done to find out about my child’s needs? 
• Does my child get extra support from a teacher or another adult? 
• What do they get support with? 
• Is the extra support given in a group or individually? 
• Is the extra support given every day? 
• How long does the extra support last each day?
• How do you measure my child’s progress? 
• Is my child making progress you’d expect?
• Have you referred my child to specialist services, such as an educational psychologist, behaviour support staff or a speech and language therapist?
• What can I do at home to support my child?
• What are the next steps be if my child needs more support?

At the end of the meeting, you, the SENCo, the teacher and anyone else attending should agree what will happen next and fix a date for another meeting.

Ask for this to be put in writing. 

If you think your child needs more support than is being offered to them by their school, you might want to consider asking your local authority for an education, health and care needs assessment.

School refusal

Some children may become so anxious or worried about school that they don’t feel able to go in at all.

This is often called “school refusal”, although some prefer the term “emotionally-based school avoidance”. 

If your child is not having their special educational needs met at school, this could make school a very stressful and exhausting environment for them. 

Read this guide to school refusal from Young Minds for advice on how to approach the school, how to cope at home and what support to ask for. 

Action for Children has more advice on how to cope when your child doesn’t want to go to school. 

Homeschooling

You can choose to educate your child at home.

You can get information from your local authority about homeschooling. 

If your child attends a mainstream school, they must accept your decision to take your child completely out of school to homeschool them. 

The school can say no if you still want your child to attend part-time. 

You do not need to get permission from your local authority. 

If your child goes to a SEN school, you will need to get permission from your local authority to homeschool them. 

Scope has more advice and resources for parents who are homeschooling their children.

This content was last reviewed in December 2024. We’ll review it again in 2026.