Check out the latest guidance on ‘Putting in place the new ALN system.’
What is ALN and additional learning provision?
Children and young people with ALN need extra support to learn. This would be because they:
• Find it harder to learn than other children of the same age
• Have a disability that means they cannot use, or find it difficult to use, facilities for learning in the local nursery, school or college
Some children and young people who need extra help in nursery, school, pupil referral unit (PRU) or college do not have an ALN. This may be children or young people who just need some help catching up. The extra support given to children with ALN to help them learn is called additional learning provision (sometimes called ALP). This must be written into a support plan called an individual development plan (IDP). Additional learning provision for a child aged under 3 means educational provision of any kind. Additional learning provision for a person aged 3 or over is education or training usually in a nursery, school, PRU or college that is additional to, or different from, what is made available to most children of the same age. This means that additional learning provision is support that is made available usually in nursery, schools or colleges but most children or young people of the same age do not need to use this support to make progress. Additional learning provision can be delivered by teachers, teaching assistants or tutors. It can also be delivered by specialist services like a speech and language therapist or teachers of the deaf.
What is changing for children and young people with special educational needs?
The Welsh Government is changing the way children and young people with SEN are supported. The support children with SEN receive is called special
educational provision (sometimes called SEP).
We are replacing the old (SEN) system with the new ALN system. The new ALN system strengthens the importance of providing information and support so that children, young people and their parents are involved as much as possible in the process and in decisions that affect them.
What is changing for children and young people with special educational needs?
The Welsh Government is changing the way children and young people with SEN are supported. The support children with SEN receive is called special educational provision (sometimes called SEP).
We are replacing the old (SEN) system with the new ALN system. The new ALN system strengthens the importance of providing information and support so that children, young people and their parents are involved as much as possible in the process and in decisions that affect them.
When the ALN system is introduced you will notice the following changes to what things are called:
•special educational needs (SEN) becomes additional learning needs (ALN)
•special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCos) become additional learning needs co-ordinators (ALNCos)
•special educational provision (SEP) becomes additional learning provision (ALP)
•plans such as individual education plans (IEPs), statements and learning and skills plans (LSPs) will be replaced with a new plan called an individual development plan (IDP)
Some things have not changed. Having ALN is the same as having SEN. This means that if a child or young person has SEN they are also likely to have ALN. And it means the special education provision children and young people get to help them learn at nursery, school, PRU or college because they have SEN will continue, if it is still required, but it will now be called additional learning provision.
For further information, please follow the link or click on the documents below.
https://gov.wales/additional-learning-needs-aln-system-parents-guide-html
 ALN Policy Years – Nursery, Reception, Year 1, Year 3, Year 5 and Newly Identified ALN |
| ALN Policy – Years 2,4, and 6 with Identified ALN |
| ALN Information Leaflet |
| PCR Leaflet for families |
| ALN Reform. Easy Read Guide |
| ALN Reform. Parent Information Leaflet |
