Special educational needs assessment

A statutory assessment finds out exactly what your child's needs are, and what special help will best meet those needs.

It is only necessary if your child's school or educational setting cannot provide all the help they need.

How to request a statutory assessment

If you feel that your child might benefit from a statutory assessment of their Special Educational Needs you should:

• discuss this with staff at your child’s school/educational setting - they will be able to advise you on the extent of your child’s needs and how they can support your child if they do not require a statutory assessment
• if the school/educational setting feel that your child may need a statutory assessment they will discuss this with you
• they will then collate the available documentation regarding your child’s needs and any provisions already made and forward this to us requesting a statutory assessment.
  In all cases, the request must be discussed with you before it is sent to Barnet Council.

As a parent you also have the right to request that we consider whether a statutory assessment is appropriate for your child. If you wish to do so, please contact us using the details on the left.

If a statutory assessment is required

If we decide that a statutory assessment is appropriate we will ask for detailed information from:

• the child’s parents
• school or educational setting
• other professionals, including an Educational Psychologist and children's social care staff if they are involved.

A medical examination will also be required as part of the assessment.

When the assessment is complete, we consider whether to issue a statement of Special Educational Needs.

Information required

When a child is referred to the council for statutory assessment we will first seek evidence and information on the child’s Special Educational Needs from the school and from other professionals involved. This information will help us decide whether a statutory assessment is appropriate.

We will require evidence that the child’s Special Educational Needs:

• are significant and complex
• have not responded to relevant and purposeful measures put in place by the school and supporting outside agencies
• may call for support that cannot usually be provided by a mainstream school from its own resources.

Barnet Council will be guided by the Government’s SEN Code of Practice, as well as our own SEN criteria, in deciding whether to undertake a statutory assessment.

We will notify parents of our decision within six weeks of receiving the original referral.