Overview
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT · ENGLAND AND WALES Special Educational Needs, Autism and Dyslexia Awareness What SEN law, autism and dyslexia actually require of a practitioner in England and Wales. TEN MODULES · 20-QUESTION ASSESSMENT · ENGLAND AND WALES CPD HOURS …
Course Details
Special Educational Needs, Autism and Dyslexia Awareness
What SEN law, autism and dyslexia actually require of a practitioner in England and Wales.
PPT Deck
Audio Podcast
Audio Quiz
Infographic
Overview
This programme covers what special educational needs law, autism and dyslexia actually require of a practitioner in England and Wales. It is written for people who already work in the field and who need current, accurate content rather than an introduction. It does not start from first principles and it does not assume the reader is new to children with additional needs.
The two nations are treated separately throughout: England operates under Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014, the SEND Regulations 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice 2015, while Wales operates under the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 and the ALN Code for Wales 2021. Three commitments shape the content — statistics are attributed to a named source and year, contested evidence (dyslexia prevalence is the clearest example) is presented as a genuine dispute rather than a single quotable number, and the course says plainly where its coverage stops and accredited training is required instead.
Who this course is for
Assumes professional experience and a working role in which the reader already meets children or young people with additional needs. A poor fit for someone with no prior contact with children with additional needs, and for anyone seeking a qualification that confers a professional title. It is neither.
Learning outcomes
On completion, a learner should be able to do the following:
Quote the current SEN figures for England and the ALN figures for Wales, name their source and date, and explain what each figure does and does not measure.
Distinguish the England and Wales statutory systems, describe what an EHC plan and an IDP each are, and identify what the reasonable adjustment duty under the Equality Act 2010 requires in both.
Carry out assess, plan, do, review with a specific analysis, a quantified provision, a named accountable person and a reviewable outcome — and recognise the six ways it commonly fails.
Explain the two diagnostic domains, the sensory dimension, masking and monotropism, and use the language most autistic people in the UK prefer.
Rank environmental, communication and sensory adjustments by impact against cost, and implement the highest-value ones without additional resources.
Explain the competing definitions of dyslexia, present prevalence as a genuine dispute, identify the indicators by phase, and apply structured literacy, access arrangements and assistive technology correctly.
Recognise the common co-occurring conditions, avoid diagnostic overshadowing, and act on identified barriers while a family waits for assessment.
Identify escalation and increased vulnerability, know the boundary of your own role, and route concerns through the right person on the same day.
Explain what co-production actually requires, write records that a reviewer or tribunal can act on, and escalate within your own setting when a cycle has not worked.
Career path
Course structure
The Picture in England and Wales
The Legal Framework in England and Wales
The Graduated Approach in Practice
Understanding Autism: Profile, Not Deficit
Autism in Practice
Understanding Dyslexia
Dyslexia in Practice
Co-occurrence and the Whole Learner
Distress, Risk and Safeguarding
Families, Recording and Escalation
Each module closes with an Apply and Reflect task that takes the material into the learner’s own setting. A support notice precedes Module 9, which is pitched at recognition, safe response, recording and referral only, with no physical intervention, risk assessment methodology or clinical procedure, plus a 20-question assessment with a trainer-only answer key.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Does this qualify me to work as a SENCO or ALNCo?
No. It is CPD, not a qualification. Both roles carry their own requirements set by government, and this course meets none of them. It covers subject knowledge that sits behind those roles and is useful preparation, which is a different claim.
Q. Can I assess or diagnose a child after completing this?
No, and no short course can confer that. Diagnosis of autism sits with a qualified multidisciplinary clinical team. A formal dyslexia assessment requires a specialist assessor holding a current Assessment Practising Certificate. This course helps you describe what you observe accurately and route a concern to the right person.
Q. Is this course accredited, and how many CPD points does it carry?
This package does not come with an accreditation, a CPD point value or a certifying body attached. Any such claim would have to be arranged and evidenced by the provider delivering it.
Q. Does it cover Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. Scotland operates an additional support needs system under its own legislation and Northern Ireland operates a separate framework again. Neither is covered and neither should be inferred from this material.
Q. England is reforming SEND. Is this content about to go out of date?
The legal content is current. The Schools White Paper and its consultation are proposals, not law. On the government’s own stated timetable, reforms are not expected to take effect before September 2029. The statistics, by contrast, are revised annually and will date faster than the law.
Q. Why does the course give a range for dyslexia prevalence instead of a single figure?
Because there is no agreed figure. Published estimates run from roughly 5% to 20% depending on where the cut-off is placed on a continuum with no natural boundary, and on which reading measure is used. Presenting one number as settled fact would be inaccurate.
Q. How long does it take?
Between eight and ten hours of guided learning across the ten modules, excluding the Apply and Reflect tasks, which require access to the learner’s own records and setting.
Q. What if the course conflicts with my setting’s policy?
Follow your setting’s policy and raise the difference with the person responsible for it. This course cannot know your local safeguarding arrangements, your behaviour policy, your recording system or your local authority’s threshold document.
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Course Features
- Lectures 12
- Quizzes 2
- Duration Lifetime access
- Skill level All levels
- Language English
- Students 2
- Certificate Yes
- Assessments Self
