Guidance on the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system for children and young people aged 0 to 25, from 1 September 2014.

Documents

Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years

Ref: DFE-00205-2013PDF, 3.23MB, 292 pages

Details

This statutory code contains:

  • details of legal requirements that you must follow without exception
  • statutory guidance that you must follow by law unless there’s a good reason not to

It explains the duties of local authorities, health bodies, schools and colleges to provide for those with special educational needs under part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

The code, which applies to England, is for:

  • headteachers and principals
  • governing bodies
  • school and college staff
  • special educational needs (SEN) co-ordinators
  • early years providers
  • other education settings
  • local authorities
  • health and social services staff

Changes due to coronavirus (COVID-19)

We recommend that anyone referring to the SEND Code of Practice about education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments and plans, or about the local offer, also reads our guidance on changes to the law on education, health and care needs assessments and plans due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

Some aspects of the law on EHC needs assessments and plans have changed temporarily to give local authorities, health commissioning bodies, education settings and other bodies who contribute to these processes more flexibility in responding to the demands placed on them by coronavirus (COVID-19).

The duty on local authorities annually to publish their response to comments on their local offer of services for those with special educational needs and disabilities has also been modified temporarily for the same reason.

Given that these changes are temporary, we will not be updating the SEND Code of Practice statutory guidance.

Other SEND guides are also available.

Published 11 June 2014
Last updated 30 April 2020 + show all updates

  1. Added link to guidance on ‘Changes to the law on education, health and care needs assessments and plans due to coronavirus’.

  2. Removed version of SEND code that was valid until 31 March 2015. Clarified when 2001 SEND code is still applicable.

  3. Published the revised ‘SEN and disability code of practice 0 to 25 years’ which comes into effect on 1 April 2015.

  4. Added link to the ‘SEND: guide for parents and carers’ page.

  5. Updated the ‘SEND code of practice: 0 to 25’ document. It comes into force on 1 September 2014.

  6. Updated transitional and savings provisions document includes substantial changes throughout.

  7. First published.