SEN to ALN Transition Wales: What Happens to SEN Statements and IEPs

If your child had a SEN Statement or an IEP under the old Welsh SEN system, those documents have now been superseded by the new ALN framework. The transition was phased from 2021 and reached its formal completion in August 2025. What that means in practice — and where families were most at risk of losing support during the switchover — is something a lot of parents only discovered after things went wrong.

What Was Supposed to Happen

The ALNET Act 2018 required local authorities and schools to move every child from the old SEN framework to the new ALN system according to a phased timetable, organised by school year group.

For children who had a formal Statement of Special Educational Needs, the process was:

1. The local authority issues an IDP Notice — a formal legal notice confirming that the child is moving from the SEN system to the ALN system
2. Once issued, the LA has 12 weeks to prepare a full IDP under Commencement Order 14
3. During those 12 weeks, the LA is legally bound by Article 19 of Commencement Order 14 to "have regard to the special educational provision provided to the child immediately before moving to the new law" — meaning they must not let provision drop during the transition period

For children on non-statutory School Action or School Action Plus (which had IEPs), the process was different. These children were not automatically given IDPs. Instead, schools were required to assess whether they now met the new ALN threshold — a stricter test that excluded children whose needs could be met through "ordinarily available inclusive practice." Many did not meet the threshold and received "No ALN Notices."

What Actually Happened

The transition generated widespread problems. Audit Wales documented a fall of 58% in the total number of children recorded as having ALN or SEN between 2018/19 and 2024/25. Much of that fall represents children who had non-statutory School Action or School Action Plus support and did not meet the new, stricter ALN definition.

For families with children on Statements, a different problem emerged: the 12-week conversion window was frequently used to reduce provision levels. Local authorities, under severe budget pressure — ALN spending was approaching £1 billion annually and LA ALN expenditure had risen 34% in real terms — sometimes drafted IDPs that specified less provision than the Statement had required. The legal protection during conversion is clear (Article 19 requires the previous provision to be "had regard to"), but "having regard to" does not mean replicating identically. LAs argued that the new framework's higher threshold for ALP justified reducing provision.

Parents who did not know this was happening — or who did not know they could challenge the reduced provision — lost support their children had held for years.

If Your Child Had a Statement: Key Risks to Know

Provision reduction during conversion. If the IDP your child received as a result of the transition contains less provision than the Statement, this is challengeable. You need to challenge it in writing, citing the Article 19 obligation, and request an explanation for each item of provision that was reduced or removed. If the LA cannot demonstrate a clinical or evidence-based justification for the reduction, appeal to the Education Tribunal for Wales.

Changed thresholds. The new ALN definition is stricter in a specific way: provision must be required that is additional to or different from ordinarily available inclusive practice. If the LA argued that your child's Statement provision could now be met through classroom differentiation, demand the evidence. An LA that cannot show your child's needs can genuinely be met through universal teaching is applying the threshold incorrectly.

Delays in conversion. Some LAs did not complete transitions within the 12-week statutory window. If your child's conversion took significantly longer and provision was disrupted in the interim, that is a potential basis for complaint or, in serious cases, for requesting compensatory education through the LA.

If Your Child Was on School Action or School Action Plus

The honest reality is that many children on non-statutory IEPs under the old system have lost formal recognition under the new framework. The new ALN threshold is higher. If a child's needs can be addressed through good quality differentiated classroom teaching, they do not have ALN — even if they had an IEP for years.

If you believe your child still needs provision beyond what the classroom can offer and the school has issued a "No ALN Notice" following the transition, your route is:

1. Request formal reconsideration by the local authority, citing the evidence that your child's needs require provision that is additional to or different from what is ordinarily available
2. Commission an independent Educational Psychologist report if you do not already have one — an independent EP report is the most powerful evidence in reversing a No ALN Notice
3. Appeal to the Education Tribunal for Wales if the LA upholds the school's refusal

This is not a niche edge case. Tens of thousands of families across Wales have been through this. The existence of the ETW and the DRS network reflects the scale of expected disagreement.

What to Do If You Are in the Transition Process Now

If your child is in the midst of the transition — you have received an IDP Notice but the IDP has not yet been issued:

Document your child's current provision immediately. Write down every item of support your child currently receives, with exact hours and frequency, before the new IDP is issued. You want a clear baseline against which to compare the IDP when it arrives.

Submit your evidence. Do not wait for the LA to ask for it. Send copies of all professional reports, current progress data, and a written account of the provision that has been working for your child.

Monitor the 12-week deadline. Count 12 weeks from the date of the IDP Notice. If the IDP is not issued by that date, write to the LA formally noting the missed deadline and requesting immediate completion.

Challenge any reduction immediately. If the IDP arrives with reduced provision and no explanation, do not sign it and do not accept it as final. Send written objections within 5 working days, citing Article 19 and demanding a written justification for each reduction.

The Wales IDP & ALN Blueprint covers the transition in detail — including the template letters for challenging IDP conversion decisions and appealing provision reductions to the Education Tribunal for Wales.

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