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In Scotland, the system is called Additional Support Needs (ASN). It is deliberately broader than England’s SEND: a child has additional support needs if they need more, or different, support to benefit from education for any reason — which can include disability or a learning difficulty, but also circumstances such as being a young carer, bereavement, or having English as an additional language.
ASN is governed by the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and sits within the wider Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) approach, which places the child’s wellbeing at the centre of any support.
Councils (the education authority) have a duty to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of the children they are responsible for. Because the definition is broad, support ranges from in-class help to highly specialist provision.
Many children with ASN are supported without any formal plan, and some have a non-statutory plan such as a Child’s Plan or an Individualised Educational Programme (IEP). The Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP) is the only statutory plan. It is for children whose needs arise from complex or multiple factors, are likely to last more than a year, and need significant additional support from the council’s education service and also from another agency (for example health) or from another council service (for example social work).
CSPs must be reviewed every 12 months, and sooner if a parent asks or circumstances change significantly. Parents and young people can use mediation or independent adjudication, and some decisions, including those about CSPs and placing requests for special schools, can be referred to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Health and Education Chamber). Parents can also make a placing request for a council school, including one in another council area, or for a special school, but not for a mainstream independent school.
Legal framework: Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. Statutory duties sit with the council. The tribunal for ASN appeals is the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Health and Education Chamber).
Special schools do not admit by distance or catchment. The council decides placements, and parents can make a placing request for a special school. Most special-school pupils do not have a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP).
ASN is broader. England’s SEND focuses on learning difficulties and disabilities; Scotland’s ASN covers any child who needs additional support to benefit from education, including reasons unrelated to disability. As a result a much larger share of pupils are recorded as having ASN.
No. The Co-ordinated Support Plan is the statutory plan only for children whose complex or multiple needs require significant support from education and also from another agency or council service, such as health or social work. Very few children with ASN have one: many are supported without a formal plan, and some have a non-statutory Child’s Plan or IEP.
Getting It Right For Every Child is Scotland’s national approach to supporting children’s wellbeing. ASN support is delivered within GIRFEC, and where a child needs support from more than one service, a single Child’s Plan can draw it together around the child.
This guide is written to explain Scotland's ASN framework in plain English and is AI-drafted from the official sources above. It is general information, not legal advice — always check the current position with your school and the council.