A Needs-Led System… That Still Misses Learning Needs?

The move towards a needs-led SEND system is, in principle, a positive step. Shifting away from labels and towards understanding children more holistically should help schools respond more flexibly.

However, there is a significant concern that cannot be ignored . The new SEND Code of Practice focuses on five areas of development but, “cognition and learning”, one of the current four areas has been removed. The new areas are as in the image above. This is the issue. The developmental areas do not capture the developmental areas associated with dyslexia such as “phonological processing”.

In moving away from specific categories, we risk losing clarity around underlying learning needs, particularly those linked to literacy and numeracy, such as dyslexia and maths difficulties.

These are not niche issues. They are already some of the most common difficulties seen in classrooms. Yet in practice, they are also some of the most misunderstood.

Across schools, we are already seeing:

• Children struggling with reading, spelling, and writing

• Children who cannot grasp number concepts despite quality teaching

• Increasing referrals for external assessment because schools are unsure how to respond

  
  

SENCOs and teachers are working incredibly hard, but many are left without:

• Clear frameworks for identifying these needs

• Confidence in what to look for

• Structured guidance on how to support them

This is not a failure of schools; it is a gap in the system.

Without explicit recognition of key underlying learning needs such as phonological processing and numerical understanding, there is a real risk that:

• Identification will be delayed

• Support will remain inconsistent

• More children will fall through the gaps

A needs-led system must not be a vague system. If we want schools to implement effective support, they need:

• Clear definitions of underlying learning needs

• Practical guidance linked to those needs

• Training that connects assessment to classroom strategies

Dyslexia and maths difficulties do not need to dominate the system but they must not disappear within it. When categories of need, drive funding, training, provision and accountability, anything not clearly represented will become harder to prioritise and are more likely to be overlooked.