Resources
Useful sources, with their purpose and limits made clear.
SEND and alternative provision guidance is spread across legislation, statutory guidance, public data, local services and independent advice.
This page brings together a practical starting set. Every item tells you who published it, what kind of source it is, where it applies and what to check before using it.
These resources may be location specific. The aim is to offer general information and signposting, not legal advice, case support or a safeguarding service. Check the source page, publication date and your local arrangements before acting.
Start with the question you are trying to answer.
Choose a topic to move to the most relevant starting points. Some questions will need more than one source and local or professional advice.
Understand SEND and EHC plans
Official guidance and plain-language starting points about SEND support and education, health and care plans.
Understand alternative provision
Current statutory guidance about arranging and providing alternative provision in England.
Find independent information or advice
Routes to SEND information, advice and support services and independent SEND-law information.
Check inspections and public frameworks
Official routes for finding inspection reports and understanding the area SEND inspection framework.
Explore national data
Department for Education releases about pupils with SEND and education, health and care plans.
Understand Waypaths
Waypaths explanations, audience pages and research routes, kept separate from external guidance and evidence.
The source matters as much as the title.
A useful resource card should help you judge relevance before you leave Waypaths.
- Source type: what kind of information it is
- Publisher: who is responsible for it
- Useful for: the audiences or questions it is most likely to help
- Applies to: the geographical or system boundary
- What it covers: a short original summary
- Limits: what it does not decide or replace
- Source date: where the publisher provides one
- Last checked by Waypaths: when the destination and basic description were reviewed
- External destination: the source website visitors will open
A source being listed does not mean its publisher is a Waypaths partner or endorses Waypaths. It also does not mean the source answers every version of a question.
Understand SEND support and EHC plans.
Start with the legal and official framework, then use plain-language or independent support where you need help applying it to your circumstances.
Source type: Statutory guidance
SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years
Publisher: Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care
Useful for: Local authorities, schools, colleges, health bodies, practitioners, families, advocates and researchers.
Applies to: England
What it covers: The main statutory guidance on duties, responsibilities and practice across the SEND system for children and young people aged 0 to 25.
Limits: It is detailed statutory guidance, not personalised advice. Check the source page for updates and use case-specific advice where needed.
Source date: Last updated 12 September 2024.
Last checked by Waypaths: 20 July 2026
Source type: Official public information
Children with SEND: extra help
Publisher: GOV.UK
Useful for: Parents, carers, guardians and young people looking for a shorter introduction to EHC assessments, plans, support and challenge routes.
Applies to: England
What it covers: A plain-language overview of extra support, EHC needs assessments, EHC plans, personal budgets and routes for challenging certain decisions.
Limits: This is a general overview. Local processes and individual circumstances still need to be checked.
Last checked by Waypaths: 20 July 2026
Source type: Official guide
SEND guide for parents and carers
Publisher: Department for Education
Useful for: Parents, carers, guardians and staff who want an overview of how the SEND support system is intended to work.
Applies to: England
What it covers: A longer introductory guide to the SEND system, the framework behind it and places to seek further help.
Limits: The source page was last updated in 2015. Read it alongside the current SEND Code of Practice and current local information rather than treating it as the latest account of every process.
Source date: Last updated 26 March 2015.
Last checked by Waypaths: 20 July 2026
Source type: Official process guidance
Appeal an EHC plan decision
Publisher: GOV.UK and HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Useful for: Parents, carers and young people checking whether and how a SEND Tribunal appeal route may apply.
Applies to: England
What it covers: The official starting route for understanding which EHC assessment or plan decisions can be appealed and the stages that follow.
Limits: Waypaths cannot tell someone whether to appeal or advise on an individual case. Check deadlines and requirements on the official route and seek appropriate advice where needed.
Last checked by Waypaths: 20 July 2026
Understand the current alternative provision framework.
Alternative provision can be arranged through different duties and circumstances. Start with current statutory guidance and check the responsibilities that apply to the specific arrangement.
Source type: Statutory guidance
Alternative provision statutory guidance
Publisher: Department for Education
Useful for: Local authorities, headteachers, governing bodies, academy trusts and organisations providing alternative provision.
Applies to: England
What it covers: Statutory guidance covering the arrangement and delivery of alternative provision, including updated material on unregistered provision and in-school units.
Limits: The guidance does not identify the right service for an individual learner and does not replace local due diligence, safeguarding, suitability or commissioning decisions.
Source date: Last updated 5 February 2025.
Last checked by Waypaths: 20 July 2026
Find information and advice beyond Waypaths.
General guidance may not answer a personal question. These routes can help children, young people and families find information or advice that is separate from Waypaths.
Source type: Local information, advice and support finder
Find your local SEND Information, Advice and Support Service
Publisher: Council for Disabled Children, Information, Advice and Support Services Network
Useful for: Children, young people, parents, carers and guardians looking for their local SENDIAS service.
Applies to: England, with a separate route shown for outside England
What it covers: A finder for local SEND Information, Advice and Support Services, which provide free and impartial information and support on SEND matters.
Limits: Service availability, contact methods and scope vary locally. Check the information provided by the service in your area.
Last checked by Waypaths: 20 July 2026
Source type: Independent charity information and advice
IPSEA SEND-law information and advice
Publisher: Independent Provider of Special Education Advice, IPSEA
Useful for: Children and young people with SEND and their parents, carers or family members seeking information about SEND law in England.
Applies to: England
What it covers: Information and advice about legal rights and processes within the SEND system in England, including routes for families and young people.
Limits: IPSEA is independent of Waypaths. Its availability and service conditions are set by IPSEA. Listing it does not create a referral, advice or partnership relationship with Waypaths.
Last checked by Waypaths: 20 July 2026
Use inspection information as one part of a wider picture.
Inspection reports and frameworks provide public information at a point in time. They do not replace a current assessment of a learner’s needs, a service’s actual offer or the practical conditions around access.
Source type: Official inspection-report search
Find an Ofsted inspection report
Publisher: Ofsted
Useful for: Families, schools, trusts, commissioners, providers and researchers looking for published inspection information.
Applies to: England
What it covers: A search route for published reports about schools, colleges, early years, children’s social care and other organisations inspected by Ofsted.
Limits: An inspection report is a dated source and only covers organisations and activity within Ofsted’s remit. It does not, by itself, establish current availability, service-level suitability or commissioner approval.
Last checked by Waypaths: 20 July 2026
Source type: Official inspection framework and handbook
Area SEND inspections framework and handbook
Publisher: Ofsted and Care Quality Commission
Useful for: Local area partnerships, local authority teams, health partners, schools, families, researchers and organisations following area SEND inspections.
Applies to: England
What it covers: The framework and handbook explaining the purpose, approach, evidence and evaluation criteria used for area SEND inspections.
Limits: This explains the inspection framework. It is not a judgement about every service or individual experience in a local area.
Source date: Updated 7 July 2025. The revised guidance came into force on 6 June 2025.
Last checked by Waypaths: 20 July 2026
Use national data with its definitions and limits visible.
National releases can show scale and change over time. Always check the population, period, definitions, coverage and notes before applying a figure to a local question.
Source type: Official statistics
Special educational needs in England
Publisher: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics
Useful for: Researchers, policy teams, local authorities, trusts, schools, providers and anyone looking for national school-level SEND statistics.
Applies to: England
What it covers: The 2025/26 statistical release about pupils in schools with SEN support or an EHC plan, including characteristics, recorded types of need and school-phase information.
Limits: The release uses defined school-census populations and categories. It does not describe every child or all support settings, and recorded primary need is not the same as an individual’s full profile of needs.
Source date: Published 11 June 2026 and last updated 30 June 2026.
Last checked by Waypaths: 20 July 2026
Source type: Official statistics
Education, health and care plans
Publisher: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics
Useful for: Researchers, policy teams, local authorities, trusts, practitioners and anyone examining EHC plan activity across the wider 0 to 25 population.
Applies to: England
What it covers: The 2026 statistical release covering EHC plan numbers, assessments, timeliness, placements and other published characteristics.
Limits: The collection has its own definitions, reporting periods and coverage. Read the methodology and data-quality notes before comparing areas or drawing conclusions.
Last checked by Waypaths: 20 July 2026
Waypaths Resources
These pages explain the Waypaths model, the problems it is intended to address and how people can contribute to its development. They are not independent evidence about Waypaths’ impact.
How Waypaths works
See how Waypaths moves from confirmed needs and current support to service-level exploration, practical checks, visible requests and human agreement.
Waypaths for different roles
Explore the responsibilities, pressures and boundaries described for local authorities, schools, trusts, alternative provision, specialists and families.
Share your experience
Choose an audience-specific research route and see how Waypaths intends to use responses, with privacy and evidence limits kept clear.
Pilot approach
Understand what Waypaths intends to test, what participation may involve and which commercial and operational details still require confirmation.
Know a source that could make this page more useful?
Practitioners, families, learners, researchers and sector organisations often know the guidance or tools people return to in practice. You can suggest an addition or flag a link that needs review.
What to include
- Resource title
- Source URL
- Publisher or owner
- Source type, if known
- Who it may help
- Geographical scope
- Why it is useful
- Any access, cost, date or conflict-of-interest point Waypaths should know
- Optional contact details if you want a reply
Submitting a resource does not guarantee inclusion, a backlink, a partnership, an endorsement or a response.
Questions about this resource collection
Is this a complete list of SEND and alternative provision resources?
No. It is a curated starting set for common Waypaths audience questions. Local services, current guidance and individual circumstances may require other sources.
Does inclusion mean the publisher endorses Waypaths?
No. Inclusion is not a partnership, endorsement or approval. Each external resource remains the responsibility of its publisher.
Does Waypaths endorse everything on a linked website?
No. Waypaths summarises why a particular source may be useful. External sites can change and may contain other material outside the purpose described here.
Is this legal advice?
No. The page provides general information and signposting. Use the official process, a local SENDIAS service or an appropriate adviser when you need help with a specific situation.
How current are the links?
Each external card shows when Waypaths last checked its destination and summary. Visitors should still check the source’s own publication or update date before relying on it.
Can an organisation pay to appear higher in the list?
No. Resource inclusion and position must not be sold. If Waypaths later publishes sponsored material, it requires a separate policy and an unmistakable paid-content label.
Where will Waypaths publish its own evidence?
Reviewed Waypaths research may be linked in the Waypaths-material section when it exists. It must be labelled separately from external evidence and show its method, sample, date and limitations.
Are all resources independent?
They are external to Waypaths unless clearly labelled as Waypaths material. Their institutional position differs. Some are government guidance or official data; others are independent information or advice. The source-type and publisher labels make that difference visible.
Use the source that fits the decision in front of you.
General guidance can help you understand the system. Case-specific questions may need local information, professional input or independent advice. Waypaths pages explain the product model and current research programme, not what should happen in an individual case.
Clear sources support clearer questions. The decision still belongs with the people responsible for making it.