SEN register codes
The codes the school census asks for, and the distinction between provision and type of need.
What do N, K and E mean?
They describe the level of SEN provision a pupil receives. N is no special educational provision — the pupil is not on the SEN register. K is SEN support: the pupil is on the register and supported through the graduated approach. E means the pupil has an Education, Health and Care plan. The code is a statement about provision, not about the child, and it is the school's own record to keep.
What are the primary need codes?
Thirteen, covering the type of need rather than the level of provision: SPLD (specific learning difficulty), MLD (moderate learning difficulty), SLD (severe learning difficulty), PMLD (profound and multiple learning difficulty), SEMH (social, emotional and mental health), SLCN (speech, language and communication needs), HI (hearing impairment), VI (visual impairment), MSI (multi-sensory impairment), PD (physical disability), ASD (autistic spectrum disorder), OTH (other difficulty or disability) and NSA (SEN support, no specialist assessment of type of need).
What is the difference between primary and secondary need?
The primary need is the one having the greatest effect on the pupil's access to education; a secondary need may be recorded where another is also significant. Many children have needs in more than one of the Code's four broad areas, and recording a secondary need is how the register reflects that without pretending a single label describes the child.
When should NSA be used?
Where a pupil is on SEN support and no specialist assessment of the type of need has been carried out. It is a legitimate answer rather than a gap to be filled in with a guess: recording a need type the school has not established would put an unevidenced label on a child's record, and a later assessment then has to argue against something already written down.
Does a pupil recorded as N need a support cycle?
No. N states that the pupil is not on the SEN register, so no graduated-approach cycle is required. A school may still run one — monitoring a pupil for a term before deciding whether SEN support is appropriate is common practice — but it is a choice rather than an obligation.
Striova keeps a school's SEN register, its graduated-approach cycles and its costed provision in one place, and produces the paperwork in the layout a local authority asks for.
General information about the SEND system in England, not legal advice, and not advice about provision for any individual pupil. Where a page names a regulation or a paragraph of the SEND Code of Practice, read it alongside the source.