Jargon buster

The SEND system runs on its own language, and that is half of what makes it so tiring. Once you know what the common words mean, the letters stop feeling like a foreign document and start feeling like something you can answer. Here is a plain-English glossary of the terms you will meet most often. Keep it open while you read anything official.

EHCP (Education, Health and Care plan) is a legal document that sets out your child’s needs and the support they must get. EHC needs assessment is the formal process the Local Authority runs to decide whether your child needs a plan. SEND means special educational needs and disabilities, the umbrella term for the whole area. A SENCO is the special educational needs coordinator, the teacher in a school who leads on SEN support.

LA is the local authority, your Local Authority, the body responsible for assessing needs and issuing plans. Inside an EHCP, the sections are labelled by letter: Section B describes your child’s special educational needs, Section F lists the special educational provision (the actual support), and Section I names the school or setting. Section F is the one the Local Authority has a legal duty to deliver, so it is the section to read most carefully.

A SAR (subject access request) is your right to ask for copies of the records held about your child. Mediation is a voluntary meeting, with an independent adviser, to try to settle a disagreement with the Local Authority before you go further. The SEND Tribunal (its full name is the First-tier Tribunal, Special Educational Needs and Disability) is the independent panel that decides appeals about plans. It does not work for your Local Authority.

IPSEA is a national charity that gives free, independent legal advice on SEND. SENDIASS is your local Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service, found through your Local Authority’s “Local Offer”. Provision simply means the support itself: what is put in place for your child, who delivers it, and how often.

This guide covers the law as it applies in England. If you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, the terms and rules differ, so check your nation’s guidance.