Access arrangements; Access arrangements are agreed before an exam. They allow candidates with specific needs, such as special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries. This helps students access the assessment and show what they know and can do. The intention behind an access arrangement is to meet the needs of an individual candidate without affecting the integrity of the assessment. Access arrangements are the principal way in which awarding bodies comply with the duty under the Equality Act 2010* to make ‘reasonable adjustments’
JCQ guidance for parent, carers and Students.
In the first instance please discuss with the SENCo at the setting. If you have any further queries, please contact letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we will be happy to come alongside.
Colleges offer bespoke transfer arrangements tailored to meet the individual needs of the student. This is usually discussed during the first interview, once an application has been submitted for a specific course.
You can search for SEND support groups near you on the Family Information Directory.
We’re working with Weymouth College to improve the provision for post-16 young people, this includes provision for children who may have attended a special school for learning difficulties or an Inclusion Hub in a mainstream school.
We’ve recently repurposed part of County Hall to provide a space for Westfield Students who are post-16 to give them a unique opportunity to develop their skills for work.
All of these projects already have a budget allocated to them, this is part of what we call out Capital Strategy. If you’d like to find out more then please feel free to get in touch at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us, this sounds like it’s been a really challenging time for you all. There is a Children and Young People’s mental health transformation programme in progress in Dorset that is aiming to address such concerns, but this will take some time to implement locally. In the immediate term we would advise discussing with the hospital team supporting your daughter to explore options available. You may also wish to contact Dorset Mental Health Forum | Promoting Wellbeing and Recovery or Access Wellbeing for support.
In Dorset the Learning Centres receive funding commission their own Speech and Language support from a provider of their choice. We are sorry that you did not receive a response to your query from the NHS team and this is being looked into but would advise that you link with Dorset Council in the first instance. To do this, please email us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
If your child is unable to attend school due to medical needs, we’re here to help them stay connected to education. To do this, we’ll work to understand the specific health challenges they’re facing so we can provide the right support and create opportunities for them to thrive.
Read more information about If it's not possible to go to school.
Each school has its own policies on what resources can be shared with students at home. To find out what’s available, we encourage you to talk to your school. They can guide you on the support and learning options your child can access.
If your child is choosing option subjects, do talk to the school about how your son could be involved in the decision-making process.
If you’ve already worked with the school and still haven’t got the support you and your son needs, then please do reach out to your Locality Inclusion Lead.
Your Locality Inclusion Lead is available to talk through any questions or concerns. You can contact Education and Early Help (SEND) Team.
If you feel that you still need extra support and would benefit from independent impartial advice, you can also reach out to Dorset SENDIASS, which provides free, confidential advice to families in Dorset.
We would not want any child to be without the care and support they need to access education. We would expect that a school would initially offer support through the Graduated Approach. The Graduated Approach is a step-by-step process where schools can implement small changes to make schools more accessible.
If the school feel that further support is required, we would recommend that the school considers whether to request an EHC needs Assessment.
Schools can access support through the Physical and Medical Needs Service (PMNS).
If a needs assessment request is accepted, and assessment carried out, this could take up to 20 weeks from receipt of the initial request to an ECHP being issued.
If you would like to talk about this in more detail, including your son’s personal circumstances, do please contact us on letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
Your locality Learning and Belonging Teams would be happy to start a conversation with you, and the ways you can access help. You can contact Education and Early Help (SEND) Team.
You will find lots of additional information on our SEND Local Offer page.
Our Dorset Parent Carer Council can also offer advice and guidance.
You may also find the new Neurodiversity website to be a helpful resource. This website contains information to support neurodivergent people in Dorset, with a particular focus on autism and ADHD. Support is available in lots of different ways if you need it, and you don’t always need a clinical diagnosis to access it.
Transition planning to adult services may vary but, in each instance, we would recommend discussing with your lead person. In this instance we would recommend you discuss the transition pathway and what will be in place with your paediatrician who is currently prescribing the ADHD medication.
If you need further support and advice, please do email us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
Thank you for your questions. You may find Your Future Sorted – Directories - DSTPN website useful.
There is a dedicated team at the council that helps give advice to young people who are not in employment, education or training. The team will be more than happy to discuss what might be available, you can contact them at EETSupport@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk or 01305 221783.
You can find out more information at education and employment options.
Colleges also offer advice and guidance which is available to all students.
To understand why a child is refusing school, we need to consider their unique reasons. Support should be tailored to their individual needs.
Interventions and resources should also be specific to their situation. Start by discussing their difficulties with the school. They might suggest a ‘Team Around the Family’ meeting to identify the next steps and who can best support you and your child, such as school staff, the locality team, or the Mental Health in Schools Team (if your school has one).
For more advice, contact us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
Thank you for your question. We would recommend initially discussing further with your NHS SALT (Speech and Language) therapy team - it may be that they are able to provide some additional information about the group therapy currently offered as well as discuss further about whether individual therapy is recommended. It may also be helpful to visit the online Speech language and communication need resource.
Yes, there are specific deadlines for completing Annual Reviews in years when students are moving to a new key stage (for example, from pre-school to reception, first to middle school, or primary to secondary school). These deadlines ensure the student’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) is updated in time for their next phase:
The Annual Review is an opportunity to make changes to the young person’s EHC Plan. This can be done by the young person, their parent/carer, or professionals supporting them. Changes are usually discussed during the review meeting, and the SEND Provision Lead will update the plan based on what’s agreed by Dorset Council.
We are sorry to hear your daughter is struggling. Please contact your locality Inclusion Team as they would be able to talk to you in more detail about getting your daughter support to stay in school, and to support your family while making these difficult decisions.
Find out more about the option of electively home educating.
If you need further advice and support, please email letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
We would always advise you start conversations with staff at your child’s setting who know your child best, this doesn’t have to be the SENDCo. Sometimes this might be a class teacher or Teaching Assistant (TA).
If you would like to talk to us more about your specific circumstances, do please contact us on letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
We are sorry to hear that your son is experiencing poor mental health. If you would like to discuss your concerns in more detail, do please drop us an email at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
If you are requesting an assessment for consideration of an Education, Health and Care Plan, it’s really important that you provide as much detail as possible to help our teams to make decisions. We will also seek a report from any practitioners supporting you.
Find out more about what to do if your child cannot attend school.
When the time is right, your daughter will be allocated to a worker for a review of their situation. If a young person is open to an adult team and they want a review due to a change in circumstances they are able to contact the team to request this, If they do not have a direct number for the team, they can contact the adult access team on 01305 221016 and ask to be put through to the relevant team. Find out more information about care and support for adults.
If you need further support, please do email us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
We’re really sorry to hear that your daughter is finding things so difficult, and we understand how hard this must be for you. If you feel that mainstream education isn’t the right fit for her right now, you have the option to electively home educate. You can find more about guidance on home education.
If your daughter has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names a school in Section I, we’ll need to arrange an Annual Review to discuss making any necessary changes to her plan.
Her dedicated SEND Provision Lead is here to help. They can support you in arranging the review and to request support for the school to help your daughter feel more able to attend. They can also put you in touch with other services who may be able to provide ideas and activities to try at home while we work together to find the best solution for her education and wellbeing.
If there has been a change in your SEND Provision Lead, or you aren’t sure who this is, please reach out to the Team Manager for the SEND Locality teams.
If you require further support, do get in touch with us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
There is further information about the funding that schools receive.
Banding (funding) decisions for EHCPs are made at Weekly Multi-disciplinary Locality Panels held in each Locality. There is guidance around the type of support that we expect to see at each banding level, the child’s support needs are the primary consideration when making the decision about which banding should be allocated.
Service Managers for Learning & Belonging Chair each Locality panel but they will chair a different Locality to their ‘home’ area to ensure independent decision making.
We would not want any child to be without the care and support they need to access education. All children and young people should receive high quality teaching (known as Quality First Teaching) through ordinarily available provision. We call this universal support. Some children and young people need additional and different support. We call this SEN support. Following implementation of the Graduated Approach, if the school feel that further support is required to implement interventions or increase support then we would recommend the school considers whether an EHC needs Assessment is required. You can Tread more about the Graduated Approach.
You can book a session with one of our Educational Psychologists, we also have a helpline.
We would like to pick up a further conversation with you around your child and ask you contact us through letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
Education Other than at School (EOTAS) is arranged when it’s agreed that a school setting isn’t suitable for a child, and alternative provisions are needed (as outlined in Section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014). In these cases, the local authority remains responsible for making sure that the special educational support in the EHCP is provided.
Your SEND Provision Lead can organise an Annual Review to reassess the EOTAS package and ensure it fully meets your child’s needs. You can contact your SEND provision lead by contacting your Locality team.
To support this process, it would be helpful if you could share details of any practitioners currently working with you and your child. Their input will be valuable in updating the EHCP and shaping the right provision for your child.
We would not want any child to be without the care and support they need to access education. All children and young people should receive high quality teaching (known as Quality First Teaching) through ordinarily available provision.
We call this universal support. Some children and young people need additional and different support. We call this SEN support. Following implementation of the Graduated Approach, if the school feel that further support is required to implement interventions or increase support then we would recommend the school considers discussing your child with their link educational psychologist and/specialist teacher.
You can contact your Learning and Belonging team via you Locality team.
If the school consider they may require further provision they may consider making a request for an EHC needs Assessment. You can read more The Graduated Approach.
In the Dorset Council area, we have Best Start in Life Advisors who support children in the early years settings. As a Health Visitor you can notify us when you think a child may require additional learning support through what is called a Section 23 Notification.
We would welcome a conversation about this specific situation, please email letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we can contact you.
The Local Authority retains the legal responsibility for ensuring that provision that is laid out in an Education, Health and Care Plan is delivered. The Local Authority will usually delegate the delivery of the provision to the child or young person’s setting or to a health provider should this be of a therapeutic nature.
If you have any further questions, please do get in touch at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
We would suggest exploring whether a referral to occupational therapy may be the right route for your son. This can be done via a GP.
If your school offers the ‘Learn to Move, Move to Learn’ programme (an evidence-based programme to support coordination), then then your schools SENDCo can make a direct referral to the Childrens Therapy team. You can find out more about the local OT and physio team.
If the child is currently being supported with SEN Support in school and has applied for their next school placement through Admission, then details of how to appeal this decision can be found on the decision letter notifying you of the allocated school.
If the child has an EHCP we would hope that we have discussed this difference in views and we invite families to use mediation. You can find out about challenging a decision.
Through the EHCP process the parent will be provided with instructions about steps to follow to initiate an appeal. The details for this will be found on the letter that accompanies their Final/Amended EHCP.
If you still disagree with this decision, you can reach out to Dorset SENDIASS, which provides free, confidential advice to families in Dorset.
You are welcome to contact the SENDIASS team directly. If you contact them, please provide further information. Include any urgent deadlines or need, phone number and email plus availability.
We are pleased to hear you are considering moving back to Dorset with your family. If you know where you will be moving to, do please reach out to us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk with further details so we can put you in touch with the relevant locality team. They will also be able to discuss keeping your daughter in her current year group.
If your daughter has the equivalent of an EHCP we would work with you and any practitioners involved in her care to transfer the details to a Dorset EHCP.
We will work with you to understand your daughter’s needs and seek to find an appropriate setting for her to attend when you move. The more notice you can give us for this the better as moving students mid-year can be more complicated than at usual academic year starts.
We have recently updated details on our Inclusion Hubs. If you feel like this is an inaccurate representation of your experience, you can email us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
Inclusion Hubs have a range of staff available trained to support the needs of the children within the Hub. The staff team will be overseen by a Specialist Teacher or SENDCo within the setting.
You are correct that the Hubs have both HLTA’s (higher level teaching assistants) and TA’s (teaching assistants) supporting the children. We will get this page updated to reflect this.
We work with local schools to make ensure children are able be in school within their local community.
When a school is asked to meet the needs of a child with an EHCP we will always work with the school to put in place the provision in the child’s EHCP. This includes funding, adjustments to the building and additional support from specialist services.
You are right that this is something that lots more people are currently looking for.
You might find the new Dorset neurodiversity hub helpful. This includes a section for adults with local information advice and support.
Find additional information about Autism, ADHD and other neurological conditions.
You may also find some useful information and support on the Help and Kindness website.
