Wales: Additional Learning Needs Code and Regulations Approved

30 March 2021

Wales: Additional Learning Needs Code and Regulations Approved

30 March 2021

Classroom

The SEN/ALN forms passed a new milestone when the ALN Code and regulations were approved by the Senedd on 23 March. Along with the ALN Act 2018, the code and regulations will create the statutory ALN system in Wales.

From September 2021 the ALN system will come into force over a three-year phased implementation period. In a written statement issued on 2 February the Minister for Education announced that initially the new system will apply to children of compulsory school age and below who:

  • attend maintained schools in Nursery Years 1 and 2 and  Year 1, Year 3, Year 5, Year 7 and Year 10) who have special educational provision via school action or school action plus;
  • are detained; and
  • do not have special educational needs on or before that date, regardless of their year group or setting – including those that may attend an EOTAS setting, an independent school or who are electively home educated.

All other pupils will continue under the current SEN system until they transfer to the new system. The Welsh Government will be publishing a new implementation guide later in the spring, which will set out in detail the arrangements for the first year of implementation and provide an overview of the arrangements for the second and third years.

The Welsh Government are providing a £20 million support package through their ALN Transformation Programme to help facilitate the transition to the new system.

You can find out more about the ALN transformation programme and guidance on the current SEN system here including a frequently asked questions and ALN transformation programme guide.

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