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Special Educational Needs and Disability Order 2005

The Special Educational Needs and Disability (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (SENDO) came into operation on 1 September 2005.

The new law increases the rights of children with special educational needs (SEN) to attend mainstream schools and introduces disability discrimination laws for the whole education system in Northern Ireland for the first time.

Further information on the SEN aspects of the law is available from your Education and Library Board SEN advice service, or from the Department of Education.

For further information on disability discrimination you can visit the Equality Commission website or telephone:

Local: 028 9050 0600
International: +44 (0)28 9050 0600

What will the new law mean?

For children and young people with SEN at school:

  • increased rights to attend mainstream schools;
  • new services for parents and for schools, giving:
  • information and advice; and
  • help to avoid and resolve disputes;
  • increased rights of appeal for parents to the SEN and Disability Tribunal;
  • new duties on Education and Library Boards to comply with orders of the SEN tribunal within set time limits.

For children and yound people with disabilities at school:

  • protection against discrimination in education;
  • new duties on schools to make reasonable adjustments where appropriate for pupils with disabilities; and
  • new duties on Boards and schools to plan to continually improve the accessability of the school building, curriculum and information provided to pupils with disabilities and to make these plans available for inspection.

For children with disabilities in further and higher education:

  • protection against discrimination in education; and
  • new duties on further and higher education institutions to make reasonable adjustments where appropriate, including physical adjustments to premises.

The Department for Employment and Learning is responsible for further and higher education.

You can use the link provided to view the full SEND Order 2005