The additional learning needs transformation programme: frequently asked questions

The ALN Act and wider ALN Transformation Programme will transform the separate systems for special educational needs (SEN) in schools or PRUs and learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD) in further education to create a unified system for supporting learners from 0 to 25 with ALN.

For further information about the ALN Act and Transformation Programme please visit Additional learning needs (ALN) system and refer to The Additional Learning Needs Code for Wales 2021 (ALN Code).

The following guidance documents are available to explain the process for moving learners to the new ALN system:

• Additional learning needs (ALN) system: parents' guide
• Implementing the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018: practitioner guide
• Implementing the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018: technical guide

In addition, parents and learners can find out more by visiting their school, PRU or local authority website or by contacting their school/PRU’s Additional Learning Needs Co-ordinator (ALNCo) or their local authority.

1. What is the new additional learning needs system?

The additional learning needs (ALN) system is the new system for supporting children and young people aged 0 to 25 in Wales with ALN. The ALN system is replacing the special educational learning needs (SEN) system and the system for supporting young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD).

The ALN legislative framework is created by the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 (the ALN Act), the Additional Learning Needs Code for Wales 2021 (the ALN Code) and regulations made under the Act. Through this statutory framework the Welsh Government aims to ensure all learners with ALN are supported to overcome barriers to learning and can achieve their full potential, by creating:

• a unified legislative framework to support all children of compulsory school age or below with additional learning needs (ALN) and to support young people with ALN who are in school/PRU or further education (FE)
• an integrated, collaborative process of assessment, planning and monitoring of the support provided to ALN learners which facilitates early, timely and effective interventions
• a fair and transparent system for providing information and advice, and for resolving concerns and appeals

The ALN Act replaces the terms ‘special educational needs (SEN)’ and ‘learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD)’ with the new term ‘additional learning needs (ALN)’.

All children and young people with ALN, regardless of the severity or complexity of their learning difficulty or disability, will generally be entitled to a statutory support plan called an individual development plan (IDP). Children and young people with ALN will receive support called additional learning provision (ALP) which will be set out in their IDP.

2. What is ALN?

The ALN Code defines ALN:

“Additional learning needs” or “ALN” has the meaning given by section 2 of the ALN Act, namely:

(1) A person has additional learning needs if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability (whether the learning difficulty or disability arises from a medical condition or otherwise) which calls for additional learning provision.

(2) A child of compulsory school age or person over that age has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

1. has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
2. has a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities for education or training of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream maintained schools or mainstream institutions in the further education sector.

(3) A child under compulsory school age has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she is, or would be if no additional learning provision were made, likely to be within subsection (2) when of compulsory school age.

(4) A person does not have a learning difficulty or disability solely because the language (or form of language) in which he or she is or will be taught is different from a language (or form of language) which is or has been used at home.

Children and young people with ALN need extra support to learn. This would be because they:

• find it harder to learn than other children of the same age
• have a disability that means they cannot use, or find it difficult to use, facilities for learning in the local nursery, school, PRU or college

Some children and young people who need extra help in nursery, school, pupil referral unit (PRU) or college do not have an ALN. This may be children or young people who just need some help catching up.

The extra support given to children with ALN to help them learn is called ALP. This must be written into a support plan called an IDP.

Additional learning provision for a child aged under 3 means educational provision of any kind.

Additional learning provision for a person aged 3 or over is education or training usually in a nursery, school, PRU or college that is additional to, or different from, what is made available to most children of the same age.

This means that ALP is support that is made available usually in nursery, schools, PRUs or colleges but most children or young people of the same age do not need to use this support to make progress.

ALP can be delivered by teachers, teaching assistants or tutors. It can also be delivered by specialist services like a speech and language therapist or teachers of the deaf.

3. When will the ALN system go live?

The ALN system started on 1 September 2021, and 1 January 2022, for children up to and including Year 10 who were newly identified as having ALN after those dates.

Children with SEN are moving from the SEN system to the ALN system over 3 school years to make sure there is enough time for nurseries, schools, PRUs and local authorities to discuss the support needed and to prepare plans.

Children are moving from the SEN system to the ALN system in groups. The first group moving from the SEN system to the ALN system are children who:

• go to a local authority nursery, local authority school or PRU and have SEN with support through early years action, early years action plus, school action or school action plus
• do not have a SEN statement and are not involved in an SEN statement process (such as waiting for a decision about an SEN assessment or waiting for a decision about an SEN statement)

From September 2022, children with SEN not included in first group will move to the ALN system later in the implementation period.

4. Who will be entitled to an IDP? When is it necessary for a local authority to maintain an IDP?

The ALN Act creates a single legislative system for supporting children and young people aged between 0 to 25 years who have ALN. This is instead of the two separate systems currently operating to support children and young people of compulsory school age who have SEN, and young people in further education who have LDD.

The ALN system replaces existing support plans (including statements of SEN, individual education plans (IEPs) for learners on school action/school action plus and Learning and Skills Plans (LSPs) for post-16 learners) with an IDP. Where it is decided a child or young person, up to the age of 25, has ALN, they will generally be entitled to an IDP, no matter where they are educated. Question 3 above describes when, and how, the ALN system will go live for specific groups of children.

However, the Act does not give young people with ALN a right to continuous education up to the age of 25. Where a young person has ALN and attends a maintained school or PRU or an FEI they will generally, but not always, be entitled to have an IDP.

Whether it is necessary for the LA to prepare an IDP for a young person who does not attend a maintained school or PRU or an FEI will depend upon the circumstances. Just because the young person has ALN, does not mean that the young person should have an IDP prepared by the local authority. For example, the young person may be able to get a place at a college and it may be more appropriate for the college to prepare and maintain an IDP for the young person.

Guidance about the application of the regulations can be found in Chapter 17 of the ALN Code.

5. What is an IDP and how does it differ to a statement?

An IDP is a statutory plan maintained by a school, PRU, FEI or local authority that sets out a description of a child or young person’s ALN, the ALP called for by their learning difficulty or disability, and other associated information.

Unlike statements, IDPs are provided to children and young people with ALN irrespective of the severity or complexity of their needs. The statutory status of the IDP is the same irrespective of the child or young person’s needs, with the same rights of appeal to the Education Tribunal for Wales (ETW) for anyone with an IDP.

The IDP is intended to be a flexible document that will vary in length and complexity, depending on the individual needs of learners and the way in which a learner’s needs develop and change over time.

6. How different is the ALN Act to the one in England?

In England, the Children and Families Act 2014 reformed the SEN system and introduced new statutory plans called Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), however, these are only for learners with severe and complex needs (for example, equivalent to statements). In Wales, the ALN system extends rights to statutory plans to all learners with ALN, having an IDP is not limited to only those with the most severe or complex needs.

7. What role do children, their parents, and young people have in the process of identifying and supporting ALN in the new system?

The new system puts the learner at the heart of everything that happens and we expect schools, PRUs, FEIs and local authorities to take a person-centred approach to planning for, and supporting, children and young people.

The ALN Act requires the views, wishes and feelings of children, their parents and young people to be considered at all stages of the IDP process. The mandatory IDP template includes a one-page profile to ensure that IDPs reflect the child’s or young person’s needs and personality, including what is important to, and for, them. 

8. Who is responsible for identifying ALN and for preparing, maintaining and reviewing IDPs?

ALN is identified, and IDPs prepared and maintained, by either a school, PRU, FEI or local authority. Who identifies the ALN and prepares and maintains the IDP will depend on how a child or young person’s education is delivered, the severity or complexity of their needs and the circumstances of the child or young person, for example, whether they are children who are looked after or dual registered, and whether the young person has consented. Please see chapter 23 of the ALN Code for further information.

Maintaining an IDP means securing the ALP included in it, and reviewing the IDP as and when required to ensure the information in it, and the provision it describes, remains appropriate.

Local authorities are responsible for maintaining IDPs for children and young people with ALN who:

• do not attend a maintained school, PRU or FEI
• are registered at more than one setting
• have ALN that calls for ALP it would not be reasonable for the governing body to secure

In addition, local authorities are responsible for maintaining IDPs for children with ALN who are looked after by the local authority.

A local authority is not responsible if a young person has not consented.

9. Is there a mandatory IDP template?

The ALN Act requires that the ALN Code includes one or more standard forms of IDP and requires governing bodies and local authorities to use this form or forms of the IDP. The style of the IDP can be adapted to suit local preferences or those of the child or young person.

All IDPs contain certain key elements and have the same basic structure. This ensures broad consistency and equality in terms of the way learners are treated and underpins the cohesion of the ALN system as a whole and the portability of IDPs.

The Code provides two mandatory IDP forms, one for use in the case of children who are not looked after by a local authority, and all young people; and another for use in the case of children who are looked after by a local authority. The headings and order of the mandatory forms reflect the detailed mandatory IDP content set out in Chapter 13 and 14 of the ALN Code.

10. What is the difference between a local authority-maintained IDP and a school/PRU/FEI-maintained IDP?

An IDP maintained by a school, PRU or a FEI and that maintained by a local authority have exactly the same statutory standing. Whichever body prepares and maintains the IDP must ensure the IDP describes the child or young person’s ALN and the ALP that is called for by their ALN, and must then secure that ALP.

Local authorities, rather than schools, PRUs or FEIs, are responsible for maintaining IDPs for children and young people with ALN who:

• do not attend a maintained school, PRU or FEI
• are registered at more than one setting and one of those is a maintained school or PRU
• have ALN that calls for ALP it would not be reasonable for the governing body to secure

A local authority is not responsible if the young person has not consented.

Chapter 12 of the ALN Code provides clarity on when a school or PRU should refer a pupil to a local authority for it to decide whether the pupil has ALN and to decide whether the local authority, school or PRU should have responsibility for maintaining an IDP. It provides guidance to local authorities on how they should determine whether it is reasonable for a school, PRU or the local authority to secure the ALP required by a child or young person. It also sets out that the local authority should establish a set of principles they will apply when determining whether it is reasonable for a school or PRU to secure the ALP or whether the local authority ought to do so.

11. How will the ALN Act help to create a bilingual system for supporting children and young people with ALN across Wales?

One of the core aims of the ALN Act is to create a bilingual system of support for ALN. Local authorities/governing bodies are required to consider whether a child or young person should receive ALP in Welsh, this duty is an ongoing one, rather than a one-off decision. If it is decided a child or young person should be provided with ALP in Welsh, this must be documented in the IDP and all reasonable steps must be taken to secure the provision in Welsh. Please refer to chapter 3 of the ALN Code for further information.

A series of strategic duties are also aimed at driving progress towards a bilingual ALN system. In particular, when reviewing their arrangements for ALN, and the extent to which those arrangements are sufficient to meet the needs of children and young people, local authorities are required to consider the sufficiency of ALP made in Welsh. If a local authority considers the arrangements are not sufficient, including the availability of ALP in Welsh, it must take all reasonable steps to remedy the matter. In doing so, local authorities can link their review of ALP with wider strategic duties including those under the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013, which requires them to draft, consult on and publish Welsh in Education Strategic Plans (WESPs).

12. What is the Additional Learning Needs Co-ordinator (ALNCo) role and how does this differ to existing Special Educational Needs and Co-ordinator (SENCo) role?

The Additional Learning Needs Co-ordinator (ALNCo) is a statutory role.

Section 60 of the ALN Act requires FEIs and mainstream maintained schools, including maintained nurseries and PRUs, to have a designated ALNCo.

While all teachers and education staff are educators of children and young people with ALN, the ALNCo is the individual who at a strategic level ensures the needs of all learners with ALN within the education setting are met. The role is a strategic one within the education setting and should, therefore, either form part of the senior leadership team or have a clear line of communication to the senior leadership team. This will support the education setting to plan, manage and deliver its duties and responsibilities in identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people with ALN

The Additional Learning Needs (Wales) Regulations 2021 prescribe the qualifications and experience required to be an ALNCo and the functions placed upon ALNCos.

Chapter 8 of the ALN Code sets out the role of the ALNCo.

13. What is the Designated Educational Clinical Lead Officer (DECLO) role?

The ALN Act places a duty on all local health boards to designate an officer to have responsibility for co-ordinating the health board’s functions in relation to children and young people with ALN. That person is known as the Designated Education Clinical Lead Officer (DECLO).

The DECLO must either be a registered medical practitioner or a registered nurse or another health professional. The Local Health Board, in designating an officer as a DECLO, must consider the officer to be suitably qualified and experienced in the provision of health care for children and young people with ALN.

Chapter 9 of the ALN Code sets out the role of the DECLO.

14. What is the Early Years ALN Lead Officer (ALNLO) role?

The ALN Act requires each local authority to designate an Early Years ALN Lead Officer (ALNLO), who has responsibility for co-ordinating the local authority’s functions under the ALN Act in relation to children under compulsory school age who are not attending maintained schools or PRUs.

The Early Years ALNLO is a strategic role and should have two aspects to it: an inward facing role and an outward facing role. The purpose of the inward facing role is to be responsible for the local authority’s arrangements for exercising its functions in relation to the ALNLO cohort. In order to support the effective exercise of those functions, the outward facing role is about developing and maintaining effective relationships with others who work with the local authority’s ALNLO cohort.

The Early Years ALNLO should have overall responsibility within the local authority for ensuring there are appropriate arrangements in place to enable the local authority to perform properly its functions under the Act in relation to the ALNLO cohort.

The Early Years ALNLO is not required personally to perform the local authority’s functions in relation to individual children (for example, to prepare the IDPs for all children in the ALNLO cohort). Although the Early Years ALNLO may do so themselves or may oversee others doing so, other officers may carry out those functions on a day to day basis.

Chapter 10 of the ALN Code provides further detail on the expectations of the Early Years ALNLO.

15. What happens if a child, parent or young person disagrees with a decision about ALN by a school, PRU, local authority or FEI?

Sometimes, disagreements can arise. Most of the time, disagreements can be sorted out by discussing the problem with the school, PRU or local authority. If you are unhappy with anything, you should make your views known as soon as possible. Always speak to the school's additional learning needs coordinator (ALNCo) as soon as you have worries or concerns. Working together will provide opportunities to discuss any problems and help them to be sorted out at an early stage.

If you are still unhappy, then you should talk to your local authority to seek further advice.

The child, their parent or the young person are able to use the local authority’s dispute resolution arrangements. These arrangements attempt to resolve disagreements outside of Tribunal proceedings. Using these arrangements is not compulsory and does not affect a child’s, their parent’s or young person’s right to take an appeal to the Tribunal. A potential advantage of the arrangements is that they should generally reduce the need to take a dispute to the Tribunal and lead to quicker resolution of disagreements, which would minimise disruption to the child’s or young person’s learning and save significant time and money for the parties involved.

In addition, the 2018 Act places requirements on local authorities to make arrangements for the provision for independent advocacy services for children and young people where they might disagree with a decision.

If the child, parent or young person concerned is still unhappy with a local authority’s or FEI’s decision, they can make an appeal to the Education Tribunal for Wales (‘the Tribunal’).

Chapter 32 of the ALN Code sets out guidance and requirements relating to the duties on local authorities to make arrangements for avoiding and resolving disagreements and for the provision of independent advocacy services.

16. What is the remit of the Education Tribunal?

The 2018 Act renames the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales (‘SENTW’) the Education Tribunal for Wales (‘the Tribunal’). The Tribunal hears and decides appeals and applications in relation to children and young people who have or may have ALN. Specifically, it hears and decides appeals about the decisions of a governing body of a further education institution (‘FEI’) or a local authority in Wales. It also hears disability discrimination claims in relation to schools or PRUs. 

The Tribunal is able to make decisions about a child’s ability to understand matters relating to the ALN system, including what it means to bring an appeal to the Tribunal. Where it declares that a child lacks such capacity to understand, the Tribunal is able to appoint a case friend upon application for that child.

The Tribunal is independent of Welsh Government, local authorities, schools, PRUs and FEIs; and its decisions are legally binding on local authorities and FEIs. 

The Tribunal is also able to require an NHS body to provide evidence regarding health related aspects of an appeal and can make recommendations to an NHS body about the exercise of its functions under the Act. If the Tribunal makes a recommendation to an NHS body, that body must report back to the Tribunal stating the action it has taken or proposes to take in response to the Tribunal’s recommendation; or why it has not taken and does not propose to take any action in response to the recommendation.

Regulations made under the Act set out the procedures for making appeals, applications and claims to the Tribunal. Chapter 26 of the ALN Code provides information about appeals and applications to the Tribunal.

17. I would like my child to move to the ALN system, who do I ask?

During the school year 2021 to 2022, a request to move from the SEN system to the ALN system can be made where a child has SEN (but not a statement) on 1 January 2022 and attends a maintained nursery, maintained school, pupil referral unit (PRU) and is in any year up to, and including, Year 10.

Children and parents can ask their maintained nursery, maintained school, pupil referral unit (PRU) or local authority to move to the ALN system. They can do this in person or by sending an email or a text message. Who to ask depends on the circumstances of the child.

If a child goes to one maintained nursery, maintained school or PRU and is not looked after, a request to move to the ALN system should be made to the maintained nursery, maintained school or PRU.

If a child has education in more than one place, such as a school and a PRU, or is looked after, a request to move to the ALN system should be made to the local authority.

18. My child has SEN and has support through school action/school action plus. Will my child have ALN and have an IDP?

The meaning of SEN and ALN are the same. It is likely children with SEN will have ALN. All children who have ALN will have an IDP.

On occasion, a child who had SEN will not have ALN because their needs have changed and they no longer need additional support to help them learn.

The child will be issued with a no IDP notice. If the child or their parent do not agree with the no IDP notice they can talk to the local authority nursery, local authority school, PRU or local authority about it.

Children, or their parents, can ask the local authority to reconsider a local authority nursery, local authority school or PRU decision. If they are unhappy with the local authority decision, they can appeal to the Tribunal for it to decide.

19. My child has SEN and has support through school action/school action plus. Will the support my child receives change under the ALN system?

When children move to the ALN system, it is likely they will continue to receive the same support. This is because the law says local authority nurseries, local authority schools, PRUs and local authorities must think about the support a child is already getting when they make the IDP.

Sometimes a child’s needs will have changed and the child may need less support or more support. Children and parents should be involved in discussions about support needs.

20. If all children with ALN have an IDP, will all children have the same type of ALP?

The current system of school action, school action plus and statement is called a graduated approach. The idea of a graduated approach is to start off with a small amount of special education provision and if this does not help a child to make progress, then more support will be given. This means children can move from school action to school action plus and to statements depending on the amount of support they need.

School action, school action plus and statements are being replaced by the ALN system. But schools, PRUs and local authorities may still use a graduated approach when supporting children and young people with ALN.

The graduated response may, for example, be called school-based provision (additional learning provision is delivered by staff working in the school), targeted provision (additional learning provision is delivered by specialist staff such as speech and language therapists) and specific provision (such as a placement in a special school) for those children with ALN who have more complex needs.

A graduated approach under the ALN system is different to the graduated approach under the SEN system.

Under SEN system not all levels of the graduated approach were put in a statutory plan (a statement). Only high-level support needs or complex support needs were put in a statement. Low-level (school action) and medium-level (school action plus) support needs were put in an individual education plan. An individual education plan is not a statutory plan.

Under the ALN system, all levels of the graduated approach will be put in a statutory plan (an IDP). High-level, medium-level and low-level support needs will be put in an IDP.

The graduated approach relates to the level of support that is set out in an IDP.

This means all children who have ALN will have a statutory plan (an IDP) regardless of the level of additional learning provision they need. This is because IDPs are used for all levels of the graduated approach.

An IDP may start off by saying a small amount of additional learning provision will be provided by the school. If the child does not make progress then the IDP will be reviewed and will set out any more support a child may need. This might include provision delivered by teachers or by other services such as a speech and language therapist.

If a child continues not to make progress, they may need more support than the school can provide. The school will then refer the IDP to the local authority.

21. Does having a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act affect entitlement to an IDP?

A child may need the school to make a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act (EA 2010). The same child may also have Additional Learning Needs (ALN), and if this is the case they will also need an IDP (subject to the exceptions related to EHC plans and EHC assessments for children who are resident in England).

Whether a child has ALN, and if so, the specific ALP they need, must be considered individually in each case. Maintained schools have duties under both the ALN Act and the EA 2010. The duties are separate and a learner may require reasonable adjustments, provision under an IDP, or in some cases, both. Therefore, meeting the duties under one Act does not negate the need to discharge the duties under the other.

22. Are there thresholds based upon level of need for IDP eligibility?

IDPs are for learners with all levels of ALN, from milder through to complex needs. IDP eligibility always depends upon whether the individual child or young person has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for additional learning provision (ALP). Where a child appears to need extra support due to a learning difficulty or disability, the maintained school or local authority must usually decide whether the child has ALN. Where it is decided that they have ALN, they will generally be entitled to an IDP which records the ALP to be made for them to meet their additional learning needs. The position is very similar for young people, although it may be a further education institution that must make the decision.

There are a few exceptions to this, such as if the child or young person has an EHC plan, or in the case of a young person with ALN who is not at a maintained school or further education institution in Wales, the local authority must decide, in accordance with the Additional Learning Needs (Wales) Regulations 2021, whether an IDP is necessary to meet their reasonable needs for education or training. This is all dealt with in the ALN Code in further detail.

Using a graduated response, ALP should start at the lowest level necessary to meet the child or young person’s needs, making use of all available resources before bringing in specialist expertise. Some children or young people may require more ALP over time if their progress continues to cause concern, whereas some may gradually require less ALP if the interventions are a success. This is also dealt with in the ALN Code.

23. What is ALP? What support from specialist services is ALP?

Where it is brought to the attention of, or otherwise appears to, a school, FEI or local authority (LA) that a child or young person may have additional learning needs (ALN), the maintained school, FEI or LA must usually decide whether the child or young person has ALN. Where it is decided that the child or young person has ALN, the school, FEI or LA will then usually be required to prepare and maintain an Individual Development Plan (IDP) for the child.

The test for having ALN is set out in the Act (s.2) and is to be applied to each child or young person individually, the test must always be applied in light of the particular circumstances. ALN depends upon the person having a learning difficulty or disability which calls for Additional Learning Provision (ALP), which is educational or training provision that is different from, or additional to, that generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream maintained schools, mainstream FEIs and places where nursery education is provided.

It is the ALP called for by an individual child or young person’s learning difficulty or disability that must be set out in the IDP (see section 10(b) of the Act). What ALP a child or young person with ALN requires is specific to them and depends upon their individual needs and circumstances.

If a specialist service is available to every learner with a particular disability or condition, that service is likely to be ALP for individual learners. Whether or not it is ALP in any particular instance will depend upon whether it is called for by the child or young person’s learning difficulty or disability and whether it is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from the general provision for all learners of the child or young person’s age (including those that do not have the disability or condition concerned).

In some cases, indirect forms of support, such as training the person who is to deliver the ALP, may be necessary for any identified ALP to be provided. The ALN code envisages that these details can be set out in the ALP section of the IDP (paragraph 23.37):

The information recorded in relation to ALP will be more useful the clearer it is. It should be detailed, specific and quantifiable. This clarity might result from describing the specific tasks or actions that will be undertaken; it could also detail the training or qualifications any staff will require. Simply stating that support will be provided will not meet the need for clarity; describing the tasks any staff will undertake or facilitate, what they will be responsible for, and, if necessary, what qualifications or training they will require is important.

Therefore, specialist training for teaching staff could, depending upon the circumstances, form part of the description of ALP in an individual child or young person’s IDP. However, not all input from specialist services is necessarily ALP. Some support from specialist services, including some forms of staff training, may be provided for other purposes, such as to help staff identify needs or generally to raise awareness about particular conditions.