How do I get additional support in England?
If you have special educational needs (SEN) in England and you're studying at school or college then you may be entitled to support up to the age of 25.
In England, a child or young person has special educational needs (SEN) if they have a learning difficulty or disability which means they need, or are likely to need, extra or specialised support to access education. For example, you may need speech and language therapy, use a radio aid or to go to a specialist school. For a full definition of SEN see page 15 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25.
Schools and colleges should have arrangements in place to identify and support children and young people with SEN. If you've been identified as having SEN your school or college should take action to remove barriers to your learning and make sure effective support is in place for you - this is known as SEN support. If you require more support than a mainstream school or college would be able to provide, you may be entitled to an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), which could help fund additional support so you can attend a mainstream school or college, or a specialist placement.
Your local offer will tell you about what’s available for young people with SEN and disabilities where you live. This includes education, health and social care as well as social and leisure activities. Every local authority in England has a local offer website. To find yours you'll need to find out which local authority you live in. You can do this by visiting this website and typing in your postcode. Once you know which local authority you live in you can use a search engine like Google to find your local offer. Type in the name of your local authority and then 'local offer', the first result should be your local authority's local offer and will take you to the local offer website.
Your local offer website should have information about:
- Schools and colleges
- Support at school and college
- Support if you are going to university
- Audiology services
- Deaf friendly activities
- Support available from social care, such as free technology like flashing doorbells and fire alarms
- How to ask for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) – see below.
Not all deaf children and young people have SEN. In England, around 40% of deaf children and young people aren’t formally identified as having SEN. If you haven’t been identified by your school or college as having SEN but you are struggling this may mean you are not getting all the support you are entitled to. A parent or carer may be able to help you to raise this with your school or college, or maybe there’s an adult at school who you trust and can go to for help. All schools have a special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) and colleges have a student support or disability officer who is responsible for identifying children and young people with SEN and making sure they receive appropriate support.
See our page on your rights in education for more information. If you need help to get more support at school or college please contact our Helpline.
SEN support is managed by your school or college and should work in a four part cycle:
- Assess – gather information about your needs by talking to you, your family, your teachers and other relevant professionals
- Plan – plan what support will be provided to meet your needs
- Do – put the support in place
- Review – review how effective the support is.
With the information provided by the review the cycle should start again.
During the assessment and the review stages, your school or college should ask your views about how the support is working. If there are problems with the support then be honest and let them know what you would prefer. If you aren’t being asked about your views, raise this with your parents or carer, the SENCO or an adult at school who you trust.
If you need further support to make sure your views are listened to and considered by your school or college please contact our Helpline.
Schools and colleges receive additional funding depending on the number of students they have registered with SEN. This funding must be spent to meet those students’ needs.
SEN support should be provided by your school or college or they may bring in specialists, like a Teacher of the Deaf or speech and language therapist.
Examples of SEN support could be:
- Technology: A radio aid or soundfield system to help you hear in classes or assemblies.
- Support at school or college: This could be from a Teacher of the Deaf, notetakers, communication support worker (CSW) or learning support assistant.
- Improving the school or college environment: Fitting carpets and curtains to reduce background noise.
- Deaf awareness: Training and guidance for staff so they learn how to be deaf aware, like not turning away while they’re talking and making sure videos have subtitles.
The majority of deaf children and young people with SEN will get all the extra help they need through SEN support. If your school or college can’t provide enough support, you may be able to receive further support through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), which would be funded by your local authority. If you're over 16 then you can ask for an EHCP yourself. If you're under 16, your parent, carer, school or college would need to request an EHCP for you. Your local offer should have information about how to get an EHCP.
If you would like help to request an EHCP then please contact our Helpline.
An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is a legal document which sets out a child or young person’s special educational needs (SEN), what support they will receive and where they will be educated.
Only around 20% of deaf children and young people have an EHCP. The majority of deaf children and young people’s needs will be met by their school or college through SEN support and they won’t need an EHCP.
To get an EHCP you need to have an EHC needs assessment to find out more about your needs. This involves a person from your local authority gathering information about you and what help you need. To do this they will ask for your views, along with the views of your parents or carers, teachers and other relevant professionals. If you're deaf then they must include an assessment from a Teacher of the Deaf and an educational psychologist.
An EHCP follows the same process as SEN support:
- Access: Gather information about your needs by talking to you, your family, your teachers and other relevant professionals
- Plan: Plan what support will be provided to meet your needs
- Do: Put the support in place
- Review: Review how effective the support is.
You must have a review at least once a year – this is called an annual review. You should be included in the annual review as much as you want to be. If you're about to finish one stage of education, for example when you are in year 11, your annual review should be earlier in the year so that there’s plenty of time to agree where you will continue the next stage of your education. If there are problems with your support or something significant changes then you can ask for an early review – this is called an interim review.
Throughout all the stages of the EHCP process, you should be asked for your views and be listened to. This includes making decisions about your future, such as what you want to study and which school or college you want to go to.
If you feel like your views aren’t being listened to or you would like further support with the EHCP process please contact our Helpline.
As outlined above, schools and colleges have responsibilities to make reasonable adjustments and meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs through SEN support. EHCPs ensure those children and young people who need more support than a mainstream school or college can provide receive all the support they need. If you have an EHCP, your school or college still has responsibilities to do what they can to support you and ensure you aren’t discriminated against. The provision in your EHCP should match your needs.
Depending on your needs, your EHCP could include the following support:
- A specialist placement, for example at a deaf school or college
- Technology, such as a radio aid (although you shouldn’t need an EHCP to get a radio aid)
- 1-1 support at school or college such as a communication support worker or learning support assistant
- Specialist speech and language therapy
- Help so you can learn British Sign Language (BSL)
- Notetakers
- Communication support, such as a BSL interpreter
- Deaf awareness training for people at your school or college.
EHCPs are legal documents and your local authority have a legal duty to ensure you receive the support outlined in your plan. If you aren’t getting the support you should be through your EHCP then this must be raised with your school or college and the local authority. A parent, carer or adult you trust could help you to do this. You can also contact our Helpline for further advice and support.
Even if the local authority do an assessment there’s no guarantee you'll get an EHCP.
At every annual review the local authority will review your support and may change the support you receive. They could increase your support or if you are doing well they may try to reduce it. They will also consider whether you still need to have an EHCP.
If you are turned down for an EHCP, or your EHCP is changed or taken away then you can challenge this decision. If any of these things happen please contact our Helpline for further advice and support.