SEN Law and Guidance - What are special educational needs?

Section 20 Children and Families Act 2014 defines a child as having Special Educational Needs (SEN) if he or she “has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special education provision to be made for him or her”.

A child is considered to have a learning difficulty if she or he:

• has a 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.