The Equality Act 2010 and SEN: What Schools Must Do for Disabled Pupils

The Equality Act 2010 is one of the most frequently overlooked tools available to parents advocating for children with special educational needs in England. Many parents know about SEND law — the Children and Families Act 2014, the SEND Code of Practice — but do not realise that a separate, parallel piece of legislation also places legal duties on schools, duties that apply whether or not a child has an EHCP.

Understanding the Equality Act matters because it provides a different basis for challenging a school's failures — one that operates independently of the SEN system and can sometimes achieve outcomes that SEND law alone cannot.

Who It Covers

The Equality Act 2010 protects people with "protected characteristics." Disability is one of these characteristics. A person is disabled under the Act if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

For school-age children, this definition covers a very wide range of conditions: autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, anxiety disorders, depression, hearing or visual impairment, physical disabilities, and many chronic health conditions. Crucially, the definition does not require a formal diagnosis — it focuses on functional impact.

A child does not need to be on the school's SEN register to be protected by the Equality Act. If the child has an impairment with the functional impact described above, they are covered, regardless of what the school has or has not formally identified.

The Anticipatory Duty

The most important thing to understand about the Equality Act in a school context is that it creates an anticipatory duty. Schools cannot simply wait for a disabled child to struggle and then react. They must proactively consider what adjustments may be needed for disabled pupils — including those who have not yet enrolled — and plan ahead.

This is fundamentally different from a reactive, case-by-case approach. A school cannot say "we didn't know he would struggle with the fire drill — now we know, we'll make an adjustment next time." The duty to consider the needs of disabled pupils is continuous and proactive.

In practice, this means schools should have accessibility plans, should brief staff regularly on the needs of pupils with disabilities, and should not require individual parents to identify every single adjustment from scratch every academic year.

The Reasonable Adjustments Duty

Under the Equality Act, schools must make "reasonable adjustments" to ensure that disabled pupils are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled pupils. This duty applies to:

• Provisions, criteria, and practices — the school's rules and ways of doing things (for example, a blanket rule that pupils must queue silently for lunch, which places a child with sensory processing difficulties at a significant disadvantage)
• Physical features — where a physical feature of the school creates a disadvantage (for example, the only available quiet space requires climbing stairs a child with mobility difficulties cannot use)
• Auxiliary aids and services — the provision of supporting materials or equipment (for example, a visual timetable, text-to-speech software, a reading pen)

There is no requirement to make an adjustment that is not reasonable — but "reasonable" is assessed against the school's resources and the effectiveness of the adjustment, not against the school's convenience. Many adjustments are straightforward and cheap, and refusing to make them is difficult to justify.

The Difference Between Equality Act Duties and SEN Duties

These two sets of duties operate alongside each other, but they are not the same thing.

SEND law (Children and Families Act 2014, SEND Code of Practice) governs the formal process for identifying SEN, running the graduated approach, issuing EHCPs, and the rights of parents in those processes. It is administered through local authorities and the SEND Tribunal.

Equality Act duties apply directly to schools and to local authorities. They are about non-discrimination and reasonable adjustment. Complaints about Equality Act failures go to the County Court (for disability discrimination) or, in some cases, can be raised with the school's governing body or the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The key practical differences:

• Equality Act duties apply regardless of whether the child is on the SEN register
• Equality Act claims can be brought in the County Court — a different route from the SEND Tribunal
• The Equality Act covers situations where a school's failure is discriminatory in nature, which may include exclusions, exam access denials, and refusal to make specific adjustments

Disability Discrimination in Schools

Schools commit disability discrimination when they treat a disabled pupil less favourably because of their disability, or when they fail to make a reasonable adjustment and this places the disabled pupil at a substantial disadvantage.

Examples of potential disability discrimination in a school context:

• Excluding or repeatedly suspending a child for behaviour that is directly caused by their disability (e.g., a meltdown caused by unmet sensory needs in a child with autism)
• Failing to provide exam access arrangements despite clear evidence of need
• Refusing to allow a child with autism to eat in a quieter environment when the main hall causes sensory overwhelm
• Denying a child with ADHD access to movement breaks that would allow them to regulate and learn
• Failing to include a child with mobility difficulties in school trips or extracurricular activities without reasonable alternatives

If a school commits disability discrimination, a parent can bring a claim in the County Court. Legal aid may be available in some circumstances, and IPSEA can advise on this process.

How to Use the Equality Act Alongside SEND Law

For most families, the Equality Act and SEND law work together rather than separately.

When requesting specific adjustments from a school, you can frame your request by citing both the Equality Act reasonable adjustments duty and the SEND Code of Practice's expectation that schools use best endeavours to meet SEN. This dual framing puts the school on notice that there are two distinct legal frameworks they must satisfy.

When an EHCP is being drafted, specific reasonable adjustments that are particularly important for the child's daily functioning should be included in Section F. This turns a discretionary Equality Act adjustment into a legally enforceable EHCP provision — giving you two sources of legal authority for the same support.

If you are challenging an exclusion or investigating why a child with SEN is being disproportionately sanctioned, the Equality Act's prohibition on disability discrimination provides a basis for challenge that SEND law does not.

The England EHCP & SEN Blueprint at /uk/england/iep-guide includes an Equality Act adjustments checklist alongside the EHCP tools — so you can see where the two legal frameworks overlap and how to deploy both when advocating for your child.

See more United Kingdom guides →