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In March, a paper was released that summarises the provisions of the Act and its passage through the National Assembly for Wales.

Here are the headlines from the Act:

  • The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 will replace the current Special Educational Needs (SEN) framework with a reformed system based on Additional Learning Needs (ALN).
  • The Act makes provision for universal, statutory Individual Development Plans for all children and young people with ALN.
  • The Act will bring an end to the current distinction between school led interventions and local authority issued statements and integrates the separate legislative arrangements that exist for pupils in schools and post-16 students in colleges.
  • The Act seeks to improve collaboration between local authorities and health boards and establish a fairer and more transparent system with greater emphasis on disagreement avoidance and dispute resolution.
  • The Act will be introduced in a phased approach from September 2020.
  • The current Special Educational Needs system will remain in place for all learners with SEN/ALN until September 2020. Only after that point, will learners begin transitioning over to the new system.

Want more information?

The full 47-page paper is available here:

Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018