Plain English
The SEND jargon buster
The SEND world runs on acronyms. Here is what they actually mean, in plain English, so a school letter or a meeting never leaves you guessing.
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43 terms, and growing
A
- ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- A difference in attention, impulse control and activity levels that can make classroom life harder work. Diagnosis comes through health services, but a school can and should support the needs it sees without waiting for one.
- Annual Review
- The formal review of an EHCP, which must happen at least once every 12 months. It checks whether the plan still describes your child's needs and whether the provision is working. You and your child must be invited to give your views.
- APDR Assess, Plan, Do, Review
- The four-step cycle schools use to support children on SEN Support: assess the need, plan the support, put it in place, then review what difference it made, and go round again.
- ASD Autism Spectrum Disorder
- A lifelong difference in how a person communicates, relates to others and experiences the world. Many autistic people and families prefer the terms autistic or autism spectrum condition, rather than a disorder label.
C
- CAMHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
- The NHS service for children's and young people's mental health. Referrals usually come through a GP or school. Waiting times can be long, so it is always worth asking what support can start in the meantime.
- Code of Practice SEND Code of Practice 2015
- The statutory guidance that schools, local authorities and health services in England must follow for children and young people with SEND aged 0 to 25. When someone in a meeting mentions "the Code", this is the document they mean.
D
- DLA Disability Living Allowance
- A benefit for children under 16 who need substantially more care or supervision than other children of their age. It is not means tested, and your child does not need a formal diagnosis for you to apply.
- DSL Designated Safeguarding Lead
- The senior member of staff responsible for safeguarding and child protection in a school. Every school must have one, and every adult working with children should know who it is.
- Dyscalculia
- A specific learning difficulty that affects understanding of number: recalling number facts, judging quantities and following multi-step calculations. It is not about effort, and it is not about general intelligence.
- Dyslexia
- A specific learning difficulty that mainly affects reading and spelling, particularly the skills involved in processing the sounds within words. It occurs across the full range of intellectual abilities, and support helps most when it starts early.
- Dyspraxia Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)
- A difficulty with physical coordination and motor planning, so handwriting, PE, dressing and organising equipment can all take far more effort than they appear to.
E
- EAL English as an Additional Language
- Not a special educational need in itself: learning in a new language is not a learning difficulty. A child can have both EAL and SEND though, and it takes careful assessment to tell which is which.
- Educational Psychologist EP
- A psychologist who specialises in how children learn and develop. EPs observe and assess children, advise schools on support, and must provide advice as part of every EHC needs assessment.
- EHCNA Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment
- The local authority's formal assessment of a child's education, health and care needs: the step that comes before an EHCP can be issued. A parent, the school, or a young person over 16 can request one.
- EHCP Education, Health and Care Plan
- A legal document for children and young people up to age 25 whose needs cannot be met by the support ordinarily available in school. It is set out in Sections A to K: Section B describes the needs, Section F sets out the provision, and Section I names the school or setting. Section F matters most, because the local authority has a legal duty to make sure everything in it is delivered. Our EHCP guide walks through the whole process.
F
- First-tier Tribunal (SEND)
- The independent tribunal that hears appeals against local authority decisions about EHC needs assessments and EHCPs, for example a refusal to assess or a disagreement over what a plan says. Appealing is free, and IPSEA and SENDIASS can help you prepare.
G
- Graduated Approach
- The Code of Practice name for how schools support children on SEN Support: repeating cycles of Assess, Plan, Do, Review that build support step by step and bring in more specialist help if progress stalls.
I
- IEP Individual Education Plan
- A school document that sets out a child's targets and the support in place to reach them. Unlike an EHCP it is not a legal document, and not every school uses the name, but a good one is specific, reviewed regularly and shared with parents. See our IEP guide for what good looks like.
- IPSEA Independent Provider of Special Education Advice
- A national charity offering free, legally based advice on SEND rights, EHC needs assessments and tribunal appeals.
K
- KCSiE Keeping Children Safe in Education
- The statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools and colleges in England must follow. Everyone working in a school must read and understand at least Part 1.
L
- LA Local Authority
- Your council. In SEND, the local authority is responsible for EHC needs assessments, for issuing and maintaining EHCPs, and for publishing the Local Offer, the directory of SEND services available in its area.
- LSA Learning Support Assistant
- A member of school staff who supports children's learning, often one to one or in small groups. Job titles vary from school to school; see also TA.
M
- Mainstream and specialist provision
- Mainstream schools teach children of all abilities together, with support built around individual needs. Specialist provision (special schools and resource bases) is designed around particular types of need. Most children with SEND are in mainstream, and the right setting depends on the child, not the diagnosis.
- Makaton
- A communication programme that uses signs and symbols alongside spoken words to support understanding and expression. Widely used in early years and specialist settings, and easy for families to learn the basics of at home.
Missing a term? If you have met a word or acronym that is not here, mention it in an enquiry and we will add it. This page grows with the questions families ask.
N
- NASENCO National Award for SEN Coordination
- The postgraduate qualification SENCOs in England have been required to gain, covering SEND law, the Code of Practice and leading provision across a school. SENCOs newer to the role now complete an equivalent National Professional Qualification instead.
O
- Occupational Therapist OT
- A health professional who helps children manage the practical activities of everyday life: fine motor skills, handwriting, using cutlery, dressing, and sensory needs. OT advice often feeds into EHCPs and school support plans.
- One-page profile
- A single page that captures who a child is: what people like and admire about them, what matters to them, and how best to support them. Simple, and one of the best tools there is for keeping the child's voice at the centre.
- Ordinarily Available Provision
- The support every mainstream school is expected to provide from its own resources, without an EHCP: adapted teaching, small-group work, visual timetables and similar. Many local authorities publish a guide to what should be ordinarily available in their area.
P
- PDA Pathological Demand Avoidance
- A profile associated with the autism spectrum in which everyday demands and requests trigger high anxiety and avoidance. Not every clinician uses the term, but many families find it the description that finally fits.
- Personal Budget
- An amount of money identified by the local authority to deliver parts of an EHCP. Families can ask for one when a plan is being made or reviewed, and it can be managed by the council, by the family, or by a third party.
- Provision Map
- A school's overview of the extra support running across a class, year group or whole school: who receives what, how often, and what difference it is making. A key tool for planning and reviewing SEN Support.
R
- Reasonable Adjustments
- The changes schools must make under the Equality Act 2010 so that disabled pupils are not put at a substantial disadvantage. That might mean adapted equipment, extra processing time or a quiet space; what counts as reasonable depends on the circumstances.
- Resource base SRP, specially resourced provision
- A specialist class or unit attached to a mainstream school. Children typically split their time between the base and mainstream lessons. Places are usually allocated by the local authority, normally through an EHCP.
S
- SaLT Speech and Language Therapist
- A health professional who assesses and supports speech, language and communication needs; you will also see SLT. SaLT advice is often central to EHCPs, because communication underpins so much of school life.
- SEMH Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- One of the four broad areas of need in the Code of Practice. The key idea: behaviour is communication, and the job is to understand and meet the need underneath it rather than simply manage the behaviour.
- SEN Support
- The help a school provides for a child with special educational needs from its own resources, without an EHCP. Most children with SEND are supported at this level, through the graduated approach of Assess, Plan, Do, Review.
- SENCO / SENDCO Special Educational Needs Coordinator
- Two spellings, one role (the D adds Disabilities): the teacher who leads and coordinates SEN provision across a school. Every mainstream school must have one, and they are usually your first port of call.
- SEND Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
- The umbrella term. A child has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provision, meaning provision different from or additional to what is normally available.
- SENDIASS SEND Information, Advice and Support Service
- Every local authority runs one: free, impartial and confidential advice for parents, carers, children and young people. Find yours by searching your council's name plus SENDIASS.
- Sensory processing
- How the brain makes sense of information from the senses. Some children are more or less sensitive than others to sound, light, touch, movement or smell, which shapes how a busy classroom feels. Occupational therapists often lead on assessing sensory needs.
T
- TA Teaching Assistant
- School staff who support learning in class, in small groups or one to one. The best TA support builds a child's independence rather than doing the work for them.
- Top-up funding Element 3
- The additional funding a local authority pays a school when the cost of a child's support goes beyond what schools are expected to meet from their own budgets. Usually agreed through an EHCP, and often what people mean when they talk about "funding" for a child.
W
- Working Together to Safeguard Children
- The government's statutory guidance on how agencies and professionals must work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Alongside KCSiE, it underpins every school's safeguarding practice, including ours.
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