What does Special Educational Needs (SEN) mean? 

The term Special Educational Needs (SEN) is described in law in the Children and Families Act 2014 as:

  1. The child or young person has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. 
  2. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they: 
    • have significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
    • has a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.
  3. A child under compulsory school age has a learning difficulty or disability if the points above are likely to apply when they start school. 
  4. A child or young person does not have a learning difficulty or disability solely because the language (or form of language) in which they speak or will be taught is different from a language (or form of language) which is or has been spoken at home.
  5. Special educational provision means something that is ‘additional to’ and ‘different from’ that is generally available to pupils of the same age.

Areas of Special Educational Needs 

The Department for Education has identified four broad areas which cover a range of needs. Children and young people may have SEN that are defined by more than one of these areas: 

Communication and Interaction 

Some children and young people may have speech, language and communication difficulties which make it difficult for them to make sense of language or to understand how to communicate effectively and appropriately with others. They may: 

  • have difficulty with producing or responding to expressive or receptive language 
  • have difficulty uttering speech sounds or have a speech delay 
  • have difficulty processing and identifying speech sounds and complex language 
  • have difficulty with understanding age-related social conventions of interaction, such as turn-taking during conversations or appropriate level of physical contact during play 

Children and young people with an Autistic Spectrum Condition are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. 

Cognition and Learning 

Some children and young people may learn at a slower pace than others their age. They may: 

  • have difficulty in understanding parts of the curriculum 
  • have difficulties with organisation and memory skills 
  • have a specific difficulty affecting one particular part of their learning such as in reading, writing or numeracy 

The term ‘learning difficulties‛ covers a wide range of needs, including:

  • Moderate learning difficulties (MLD)
  • Severe learning difficulties (SLD) where there may be associated difficulties with mobility and communication
  • Profound and multiple difficulties (PMLD), where there may also be a physical disability or sensory impairment
  • Specific learning difficulties (SpLD) may affect one or more aspects of learning. Dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia come under this term.

Social, Emotional and Mental Health 

Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which present themselves in many ways and may be a barrier to learning. They may: 

  • have difficulty in managing their relationships with other people 
  • be withdrawn 
  • behave in ways that may hinder their learning or that have an impact on their health and wellbeing 
  • have difficulty in accessing the school site or learning environment 

This broad area includes:

  • Attention deficit disorder (ADD)
  • Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attachment disorder
  • It also includes behaviours that may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety, depression, self-harming and eating disorders. 

Sensory and/or Physical

Children and young people may have a physical disability that means they must have additional on-going support and equipment to access all opportunities available to their peers. The impact may be hidden, mild or profound. They may have: 

  • hearing impairment (HI) - a diagnosed hearing loss which can range from mild to profound 
  • visual impairment (VI) – a diagnosed visual impairment or condition that can vary from mild to significant 
  • feeding difficulties or delayed independence skills 
  • physical disability (PD) – a diagnosed physical disability, which can be short-term or permanent 
  • sensory processing difficulty which affects how the brain processes sensory information. e.g. poor posture, uncoordinated movements, overly sensitive or under responsive to touch, movement, sights or sounds 

What does disability mean? 

Many children and young people who have SEN may also have a disability. A disability is described in law (Equality Act 2010) as: ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term (a year or more) and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’.

This includes, for example, sensory impairments such as those that affect sight and hearing, and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes or epilepsy.

How are special educational needs identified?

All schools and education providers have a responsibility to identify and respond to a child or young person’s special educational needs. Some children are identified as having special educational needs at a very young age, before they reach school age. To find out more visit Early Identification of support needed from 0 to 5 years. 

Other children will have their needs identified later. This will usually be identified through the school or provider’s universal (for everyone) approach to assessing children’s progress.  All schools are required to have a ‘SEN Information Report’ which will be published on their website. This will explain how they identify and respond to children’s special educational needs. 

Sometimes other health and education services might become involved to carry out more specialist assessments to help identify if your child has a special educational need. These services will only be involved with parental informed consent.

Glossary of abbreviations

Here's a glossary of common abbreviations that many professionals may use when talking about special educational needs (SEN). The SEN process can be full of different abbreviations and acronyms which can make it difficult to understand. To help, we have compiled a list of some of the most common SEN abbreviations.

  • ABA - Applied behavioural analysis
  • ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder
  • ADOS - Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule
  • ADHD - Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder
  • AP – Alternative provision
  • APD - Auditory Processing Disorder
  • APDR - Assessment, Plan, Do, Review
  • AR - Annual Review
  • AS - Asperger Syndrome
  • ASC - Adult Social Care
  • ASC - Autistic Spectrum Condition
  • ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
  • AWM - Autism West Midlands
  • BCHFT – Black Country Health Care Foundation Trust
  • CAMHS - Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
  • CBT – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
  • CDC - Child Development Centre
  • CIN - Child in Need
  • CME – Child missing education
  • CoP - Code of Practice
  • CP - Child Protection
  • CPM - Costed Provision Map
  • CYP - Children & Young People
  • CYPIC - Children & Young People in Care
  • CWC – City of Wolverhampton Council
  • DD - Disability Discrimination
  • DfE - The Department of Education
  • DSR – Dynamic support register
  • EAL - English as an additional language
  • EHE – Elective home education
  • EYFS - Early Years Foundation Stage
  • EHC - Education, Health and Care
  • EHCNA - Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment
  • EHCP - Education, Health and Care Plan
  • EP - Educational Psychologist
  • EPS - Educational Psychology Service 
  • EWO -  Education Welfare Officer
  • FAS - Foetal Alcohol Syndrome
  • FE - Further Education
  • FSM - Free School Meals
  • HE - Higher Education
  • HV - Health Visitor
  • HI - Hearing Impairment
  • HLTA - Higher Level Teaching Assistant
  • ICB – Integrated care board
  • IEP – Individual Education Plan
  • KS - Key Stage
  • LA - Local Authority
  • LEA - Local Educational Authority
  • LO - Local Offer
  • MDT – Multi-Disciplinary Team
  • MH – Mental health
  • MLD - Moderate learning difficulties
  • ND – Neurodiversity
  • OCD - Obsessive Compulsory Disorder
  • ODD - Oppositional Defiant Disorder
  • OT - Occupational Therapy / Occupational Therapist
  • PCF – Parent & Carer Forum
  • PB – Personal budget
  • PD - Physical Disability
  • PDA - Pathological Demand Avoidance
  • PFA - Preparing for Adulthood
  • PD - Physical disability
  • PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties
  • PP - Pupil Premium
  • PRU - Pupil Referral Unit 
  • RWT – Royal Wolverhampton Trust
  • SLT - Speech and Language Therapy / Therapist
  • SALT - Speech and Language Therapy / Therapist
  • SC - Social Care
  • SEMH – Social emotional and mental health
  • SEN - Special educational needs
  • SEND - Special educational needs and / or disability
  • SENCO - Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator 
  • SIPB – SEND and Inclusion Partnership Board
  • SI - Sensory Impairment
  • SI – Supported internship
  • SIS - Sensory Inclusion Service
  • SLCN - Speech Language and Communication Needs
  • SLD - Severe Learning Difficulties
  • SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulties
  • SSW - Senior Social Worker
  • SW - Social Worker
  • TA - Teaching Assistant
  • TAC - Team around the child
  • TAF - Team around the family
  • VI - Visual Impairment (loss of sight)
  • V4P – Voice4Parents (Parent & Carer forum)
  • YP - Young People / Young Person
  • WIASS - Wolverhampton Information, Advice and Support Service