Information about Statutory Assessments
What is a statutory assessment and what is the process?
A Statutory Assessment is a detailed evaluation of a child's educational needs. Statutory Assessments can be requested by a school, parents / carers or other agencies.
Requests for Statutory Assessments are decided by an SEN Panel. If the request is agreed, information about the child is submitted to the Local Authority (LA).
The Statutory Assessment Team will ask for advice from:
- Parents
- School or Educational setting
- Health
- Educational Psychology
- Social Care
- Any other relevant professionals involved with the child
On receipt of the advice the SEN Panel then decide whether a Statement of SEN is required.
What is a Statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN)?
A statement is a legal document that describes a child's SEN and the special help they should receive. It also states which school the child must attend. It has to be reviewed annually to ensure that the Statement remains up to date and accurately reflects the child's educational needs.
The statutory assessment process timescales are prescribed in the SEN Code of Practice. This totals 26 weeks and is as follows:
- 1-6 weeks: The Local Authority will consider the received request and make a decision as to whether to undertake a statutory assessment
- 10 weeks to collect advice from professionals
- 2 weeks to draft a Statement
- 8 weeks to produce a final Statement