Individual Development Plan (IDP)

Wales has one plan for additional learning needs Additional learning needs The term used in Wales when a child needs extra support to learn. It replaced the term special educational needs for children and young people in Wales. Read the full definition of Additional learning needs (ALN): the IDP. It replaced statements, individual education plans and learning and skills plans. Any child with ALN can have one, whatever the level of need Threshold The level of need a family must show before a service will step in. Most local areas set out their thresholds in a document you can ask to see. Read the full definition of Threshold , which is different from England's two-tier system.

The extra help written into an IDP is called additional learning provision, and it must be delivered: an IDP is legally binding. Some IDPs are kept by the school and some by the local authority Local authority Your local council. In England, Wales and Scotland, this is the body you ask to assess what extra help your child needs. Read the full definition of Local authority , and which one it is decides who is responsible and where a disagreement goes.

If you think your child needs one, ask the school or the council to decide whether your child has ALN. If you disagree with a decision, you can challenge it, and Wales has its own education tribunal.