Policies and strategy documents
The Surrey County Council policies and strategy documents collected on this page set out Surrey County Council's objectives, procedures and expectations for delivering additional needs and disability services for children and young people in Surrey.
The requirements for Local Authorities to put in place a written Accessibility Strategy are specified in Schedule 10 (Accessibility for Disabled Pupils) of the 2010 Equality Act.
The aim of the strategy is to increase participation in the curriculum and improve the physical environment in schools for disabled pupils. It replaces Surrey County Council's Social Inclusion Framework for Schools and Educational Settings.
Read the latest Surrey County Council Accessibility Strategy (PDF).
Alternative Provision (AP) is "education outside school, arranged by local authorities or schools, for pupils who do not attend mainstream school for reasons such as exclusion, behaviour issues, school refusal, short- or long-term illness". It can be for children who have social, emotional, or mental health needs, complex health needs or for whom an academic pathway of GCSEs is not appropriate.
Read Surrey County Council's Alternative Curriculum Pathways and Reintegration Support (revised July 2023) (PDF).
Section 19 says that it is the duty of the local authority to 'make arrangements for the provision of suitable education to children of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion from school, or otherwise, may not receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for them.
Read Surrey County Council's Section 19 statement of duties.
For more information about Alternative Provision information, see the Alternative Provision in Surrey webpage.
Occasionally there are circumstances when children/young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) need to be educated outside of traditional education settings such as schools or colleges.
To ensure that all children/young people can receive an efficient and effective education, the Children and Families Act 2014 allows for education outside of traditional education settings. EOTAS is education otherwise than at school, including post-16 settings. It is education arrangements that meet the needs of children or young people who, for whatever reason, are unable to attend any mainstream or specialist education setting.
For detailed information on EOTAS provision in Surrey read the EOTAS policy (PDF).
Personal budgets are one element of a personalised approach to supporting children and young people with SEND and should be seen as an integral part of the coordinated assessment and EHC planning process where there is a clear focus on improving outcomes for children/young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Since 1 April 2015 new laws and statutory guidance have been in place that apply to how young people with SEND are supported in youth custody. These changes have been designed to improve how Surrey work with children, young people and their families and to further joint working across agencies.
Surrey's guidance documentation sets out the SEND process for young people with SEND who are in, or leaving, youth custody and are aged 18 and under.
Guidance for schools and educational settings in Surrey based on the Department for Education (DfE) statutory guidance Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions December 2015.
Access 2 Education (A2E) is the council's provider of interim education support for children and young people who are medically unfit to attend school. Schools can complete an A2E referral by going to the Surrey Education Services (SES) Hub and logging into the SES portal.
Read the Surrey County Council Teaching Children and Young People with Literacy Difficulties Practice Guidance.
Following our Schools and Public Consultation earlier this year, Surrey County Council will implement changes to the way in which children and young people with an EHC plan are funded in mainstream educational settings.
For more information, please see the Mainstream School (SEND) Banding Framework document (PDF).