Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001

Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to amend Part 4 of the Education Act 1996; to make further provision against discrimination, on grounds of disability, in schools and other educational establishments; and for connected purposes.
Citation	2001 c. 10
Dates
Royal assent	11 May 2001
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (c. 10), also known as SENDA, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Background

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 had specifically excluded educational institutions. ^[1]

Provisions

The act required schools, colleges, universities, adult education providers, statutory youth service and local education authorities to make 'reasonable provisions' to ensure people with disabilities or special needs were provided with the same opportunities as those who were not disabled. ^{[1] [2]}

The act stated that discrimination occurred when the educational establishment/body either fails to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate individuals with special needs or a disability, or when they give them less favourable treatment. ^[3]

The act required educational establishments to make physical modifications to buildings in order to improve accessibility from 2003. ^[4]

Further developments

The Equality Act 2010 extended the act to encompass neglected indirect discrimination. ^[5]

See also

• Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal

References

1. Davies, Mark (1 March 2003). "The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001--The implications for higher education" . Education and the Law. doi:10.1080/0953996032000116385.
2. Debenham, Lucy (31 October 2008). "The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act". About Learning Disabilities. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
3. "SENDA brief guidelines for lecturers and teachers" (PDF). Edinburgh: Heriot-Watt University . Retrieved 2 April 2011.
4. Adams-Spink, Geoff (24 September 2003). "New rights for disabled students". BBC News. Archived from the original on 26 September 2003. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
5. Droutsas, Nikolaos; Spyridonis, Fotios; Daylamani-Zad, Damon; Ghinea, Gheorghita (1 March 2025). "Web accessibility barriers and their cross-disability impact in eSystems: A scoping review". Computer Standards & Interfaces. 92 103923. doi:10.1016/j.csi.2024.103923. ISSN   0920-5489.