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• 24 Feb 2025

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Yes. The rules are set out in CFA2014.

CFA2014 s20: a CYP has SEN when he or she “has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her”. He or she has such a learning difficulty or disability if he or she “(a) has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or (b) has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.”

The comparison is now between the provision this CYP requires and what is generally provided to other CYP in mainstream schools generally (i.e. nationally, which is a change in approach from that under the previous legislation). The comparison with what is provided generally to others of the same age – i.e. with general mainstream provision and not with what mainstream institutions might provide to some pupils/young people. So the question of whether a CYP has SEN does not change depending on where they live or where they study.

In relation to disability, see EqA2010 s6.

See also: COP2015 Introduction xiii-xxiii and Disability Law in Education No-nonsense Guide



Noddy No-nonsense Guide

24 Feb 2025

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