The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 introduces new duties on Local Authorities (LAs), schools, higher education institutions and youth services. The Act strengthens the right of children with special educational needs to be educated in mainstream schools where parents wish it and the interests of the other children can be protected. It also requires the school to inform parents when they are making special educational needs provision for their child.
Part 4 of the Act amends the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) by placing new duties on providers of schools and post-16 education:
- Not to treat disabled pupils less favorably, without justification, for a reason which relates to their disability
- To make reasonable adjustments so that disabled pupils are not put at a substantial disadvantage to pupils who are not disabled
- To prepare accessibility strategies (LAs) and accessibility plans (schools) for increasing over time the accessibility of schools for disabled pupils (the ‘planning duty’).
It should be noted that these duties are all 'anticipatory' i.e. schools need to consider the requirements of current and future disabled pupils. This means that schools are expected to make reasonable enquiries to find out whether children currently on roll, as well as those seeking admission, have a disability.