ALNET Act 2018 and the ALN Code Wales 2021: What Parents Need to Know

When a school tells you your child "doesn't meet the threshold" or a local authority drafts an IDP that promises nothing concrete, those decisions are not arbitrary. They flow directly from a specific legislative framework — one that most parents have never read. Understanding the key provisions of the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 and its accompanying statutory Code gives you the ability to push back using the same legal language the school uses to make its decisions.

What Is the ALNET Act 2018?

The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 received Royal Assent in January 2018 and began its phased implementation from September 2021. It is the primary legislation that governs special educational provision for children and young people aged 0 to 25 in Wales.

The Act replaced:

• Part 4 of the Education Act 1996 (which provided for SEN Statements)
• The Education (Wales) Act 1997
• Related subordinate legislation underpinning School Action and School Action Plus

The stated aim was to create a unified, person-centred, rights-based framework. In practice, it also significantly raised the threshold for statutory recognition — which is why total ALN numbers have fallen by 58% since 2018/19 even as statutory IDP numbers have surged by 164% over the same period.

The Five Principles Behind the Act

The ALNET Act 2018 is built on five core principles that all responsible bodies — schools, local authorities, and health boards — are expected to apply:

1. Rights: Children and young people have a right to be involved in decisions about their education and to have their views, wishes, and feelings taken into account.
2. Person-centred practice: Planning and provision must be centred on the individual learner, not on institutional convenience.
3. Early intervention: Identification and support should begin as early as possible, before difficulties escalate.
4. Collaboration: Education, health, and social care must work together — not in silos.
5. Inclusion: The default is mainstream education with appropriate support, not segregation into specialist settings.

These principles have legal weight. If a school's IDP drafting process excluded the child and parents from meaningful participation, that failure can be cited in any escalation or appeal.

The Key Legal Duties Created by the Act

Section 11 — School's duty to decide. When it is brought to the attention of a maintained school that a child may have ALN, the school has a statutory duty to decide whether the child actually has ALN. This is triggered by any notification — from a parent, teacher, or health professional. Once triggered, the clock is running: the school must acknowledge within 15 school days and complete the process (including issuing an IDP if ALN is confirmed) within 35 school days.

Section 13 — Local authority's duty to decide. The LA has the same duty, with a 12-week timeline, when a child is not registered at a maintained school, is under compulsory school age, or when the school refers the case upward. Families can also ask the LA to take over if the school refuses to identify ALN.

Section 61 — DECLO. Every Local Health Board must appoint a Designated Education Clinical Lead Officer to coordinate NHS participation in the IDP process. If health provision is specified in Section 2C of an IDP, the NHS is legally bound to deliver it.

Sections covering dispute resolution — Families must be given access to independent Dispute Resolution Services (DRS) before reaching Tribunal. DRS is not compulsory, but it is free and does not affect the right to appeal the Education Tribunal for Wales.

What Is the ALN Code for Wales 2021?

The Additional Learning Needs Code for Wales 2021 is a statutory Code of Practice issued under the ALNET Act. It is not guidance — it is statutory. Schools, local authorities, and health boards are legally required to have regard to it when exercising their ALN functions. Departing from the Code's requirements without good reason creates legal exposure.

The Code runs to hundreds of pages and covers:

• The legal test for ALN and ALP
• How Person-Centred Practice must be applied throughout the IDP process
• The mandatory structure of an IDP (Annex A)
• Statutory timelines for every stage of the process
• Requirements for specified and quantified provision
• How the DECLO and health boards must participate
• Annual review obligations
• Transition planning requirements for post-16 learners
• Dispute resolution pathways

Annex A is particularly important for parents. It sets out the mandatory IDP headings in the required order. Any IDP that departs from this structure is non-compliant. While schools can adjust formatting and styling, the substantive sections — especially 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D — must appear and must contain the legally required information.

What the Code Says About "Specified and Quantified" Provision

Chapter 23 of the ALN Code is where most families should spend time reading. It addresses the content of IDP Section 2B — the provision section. The Code states clearly that ALP must be described in a way that is "specified and quantified."

This is not a preference. It is a statutory requirement. An IDP that contains vague provision language — "the pupil will receive support from a TA," "the child will have access to a sensory space" — does not meet the Code's requirements. If a school issues an IDP with unquantified language and you object, you can cite Chapter 23 of the ALN Code 2021 to require them to revise it.

The Code also states that provision must be realistic, specific, and outcome-focused — meeting the SMART criteria: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and Time-bound.

How the 2025 Review Changed Things

The Welsh Government commissioned an independent review of the ALN legislative framework in 2025. The review acknowledged widespread implementation problems: local authorities and schools operating under severe capacity constraints, inconsistent quality of IDPs across Wales, and ongoing confusion about the boundary between school-maintained and LA-maintained plans.

Audit Wales had already warned in 2025 that annual spending on ALN was approaching £1 billion, and that LA-budgeted ALN expenditure had increased by 34% in real terms between 2018/19 and 2025/26. Despite this scale of spending, the system was delivering inconsistent outcomes for families — particularly in rural areas and for Welsh-speaking children.

The review did not fundamentally alter the legislative framework, but its findings reinforce what families fighting inadequate IDPs already know: the gap between what the law says should happen and what actually happens in resource-constrained schools and LAs is wide. Knowing the law in detail is the only reliable tool for closing that gap.

Using the Law Practically

You do not need to have read the full Act or Code to use them effectively. What you need is to know the specific provisions that are most frequently breached and most easily cited.

The ones that matter most:

• Section 11 (35 school days) — when the school is dragging its feet on producing an IDP
• Section 13 (12 weeks) — when you need the LA to take over
• ALN Code Chapter 23 (specified and quantified) — when the draft IDP is vague
• Section 2B requirements — when you are reviewing a draft and challenging weak provision
• Section 61 (DECLO) — when the health board is not contributing to the IDP

The Wales IDP & ALN Blueprint translates these legal provisions into template letters, audit checklists, and step-by-step escalation scripts that work whether you are requesting a first IDP, challenging a draft, or appealing a refusal.

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