Parent guide · England SEND framework

Assess, Plan, Do, Review: SEND Approach Explained

Understand what should happen at each stage, what evidence a useful review needs and how the plan should change when support is not making the intended difference.

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Editorial

Lead authorRobin GibbonsFounder & CEO·Latimer Tuition
Reviewed byHeather LatimerTutor Matching & Customer Service·Latimer Tuition
Published4 August 2026
Last reviewed4 August 2026

Current answer

Assess–Plan–Do–Review: the quick answer

In England, Assess–Plan–Do–Review (APDR) is the repeating four-part cycle schools use within the graduated approach to SEN Support. It is not a one-off form, and it is not the name of a single intervention.

The school assesses the pupil’s strengths, needs and barriers; plans the intended outcomes and support with the pupil and parent; puts that support into practice; then reviews both how well it was delivered and what difference it made. The evidence should shape the next cycle. When support is not working, the answer should not be to copy the same plan and add a new date: the assessment, outcome, provision, delivery or level of expertise should change.

“a four-part cycle through which earlier decisions and actions are revisited, refined and revised” — GOV.UK SEND Code of Practice

Decision caveat

A UK note: APDR is the England term

This guide explains the framework in England. Wales uses the Additional Learning Needs system and Individual Development Plans; Scotland uses additional support for learning; and Northern Ireland has its own SEN Code and staged arrangements.

As at 4 August 2026, England’s existing SEND Code, SEN Support and EHC framework remained the current basis for schools and families. Reform material published in 2026 was a set of proposals, not replacement law. In the English Code, must generally signals a statutory requirement, while should is statutory guidance that relevant bodies must consider; those words should not be treated as interchangeable.

When this advice is not enough

Your child is educated in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, or you need advice about an individual dispute, statutory assessment decision or appeal.

What to do instead

Use the official guidance for the nation in which your child is educated. For an individual legal question, seek independent specialist advice based on the current facts and documents.

Key terms and duties in plain English

These terms overlap, but they do not mean the same thing. The definitions below apply to England unless stated otherwise.

SEN and special educational provision

A pupil has SEN when a learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision. For a school-age pupil, that means educational or training provision additional to, or different from, what is generally made for others of the same age. Low attainment alone does not establish SEN, and attainment in line with age expectations does not rule it out.

SEN Support

School-level support for a pupil with SEN who does not necessarily have an EHC plan. Important decisions should be recorded and shared, although schools may use different names for the record.

Graduated approach and APDR

The graduated approach is the wider responsive approach in which understanding and support become more detailed as evidence develops. APDR is the repeating cycle used to organise that work.

Best endeavours

Relevant schools and settings must use their best endeavours to secure the special educational provision called for by a pupil’s SEN. Support is not simply optional until extra funding appears.

Teacher responsibility

High-quality inclusive teaching remains central. The class or subject teacher remains accountable for the pupil’s progress even when a teaching assistant or specialist delivers additional support.

Reasonable adjustments

A reasonable adjustment is a change intended to prevent a disabled pupil being placed at a substantial disadvantage. It is a separate but overlapping Equality Act duty and may apply whether or not the pupil is on SEN Support or has an EHC plan. Not every pupil with SEN necessarily meets the Equality Act definition of disability.

What should happen at Assess, Plan, Do and Review?

The cycle should connect assessment, agreed action, actual delivery and a reasoned review. For pupils receiving SEN Support in England, schools should meet parents at least three times each year, make a record and share it. That does not mean every intervention must last a full school term; a review can be brought forward when support is inaccessible, circumstances change or new evidence emerges.

Stage	What the school should do	What a parent should be able to see
Assess	Bring together teacher assessment and experience, previous progress and attainment, information from other staff, relevant comparison information, the pupil’s and parent’s views and any useful external advice. Revisit the assessment where little or no progress is made.	A specific account of strengths, barriers and current functioning; a useful baseline; the pupil’s and parent’s perspective; and clarity about what is known, suspected or still needs investigation.
Plan	Involve the pupil and parent in agreeing the intended outcome, adjustments, intervention or support, responsibilities, how progress will be recognised and a clear review date. Ensure relevant staff know what has been agreed.	An outcome that describes the intended difference for the pupil; provision clear enough to deliver; who is responsible; the evidence that will be considered; and when the plan will be reviewed.
Do	Deliver the agreed support through staff with suitable skills and knowledge. The class or subject teacher retains responsibility for working with the pupil and assessing impact, while the SENCO supports problem-solving and effective delivery.	Evidence that the agreed support actually happened, was accessible to the pupil and was connected with ordinary classroom teaching rather than operating as an isolated activity.
Review	Review the quality and effectiveness of support and its effect on progress, include pupil and parent views, and use the findings to revise the assessment, support and outcomes where necessary.	A comparison with the starting point; evidence about delivery and impact; the pupil’s experience; a clear decision about what continues, stops or changes; and the next review date.

Need, outcome, provision and evidence are not the same

A useful support record keeps six elements separate:

Need or barrier: what is happening for the pupil, in which situations, and what appears to obstruct learning or participation. A diagnostic label may be relevant, but a label alone does not explain the classroom barrier.
Outcome: the intended benefit or difference for the pupil by the review point. It is not the name or quantity of a service.
Provision: what adults will arrange or deliver, such as an adjustment, teaching approach, intervention, resource or specialist input.
Delivery evidence: whether the agreed provision happened, with the intended frequency, duration, staffing and adaptations.
Impact evidence: what changed from the baseline, including progress, access, participation, independence and the pupil’s experience.
Next decision: what continues, stops, changes or needs further investigation, and why.

For a final EHC plan, provision in Section F must be detailed and specific and should normally be quantified. Clear school-level wording is also valuable, but a school support record does not have the same legal status as Section F of a final EHC plan.

Assess–Plan–Do–Review example: vague wording versus useful wording

This fictional example shows the level of clarity that makes support easier to deliver and review. It is illustrative only: it is not a recommended programme, diagnostic judgement or prescription for an individual pupil.

Element	Vague wording	More useful illustrative wording
Need or barrier	Struggles with instructions.	When a spoken instruction contains two steps, Alex often completes the first and waits for adult cueing before starting the second.
Outcome	Improve independence.	By the review date, Alex will begin both parts of an agreed two-step classroom instruction independently in four out of five sampled lessons.
Provision	Adult support when needed.	At the start of identified lessons, the teacher will give the instruction verbally and on a two-step visual card, check understanding privately and allow processing time before repeating it.
Delivery evidence	Support was available.	The agreed lessons, the support used and any missed or altered delivery will be recorded briefly each week.
Impact evidence	Alex seems better.	The review will compare independent starts with the baseline across sampled lessons and include Alex’s view on whether the visual cue helps.
Next decision	Continue support.	Because independent starts improved in maths but not science, continue the visual card in both subjects, add staff modelling in science and agree a new review date.

Evidence to bring to an APDR review

A balanced review uses several kinds of evidence. Parents do not need to collect every possible item before a meeting; the aim is to compare the agreed plan with what happened and the difference it made. This five-part model is a practical way to organise the discussion, not a prescribed national form.

Baseline and assessed need

Teacher assessment, previous progress, observations, work samples, attendance or participation patterns, communication or sensory information, the pupil’s views, parent observations and relevant professional reports.
Provision agreed

The named adjustment or intervention, responsible adult, relevant staff expertise, frequency, duration, group size, resources, setting, connection with classroom teaching and review date.
Delivery evidence

Brief records showing whether sessions or adjustments happened, including missed sessions, staff changes, altered frequency or duration and adaptations made.
Impact evidence

Changes from the starting point across lessons or settings, work samples, assessment information, independence, participation, attendance and the pupil’s and parent’s views.
Decision evidence

The reasons for continuing, changing, intensifying, stopping or replacing support, together with any further assessment, specialist advice, revised outcome and next review date.

Questions to ask at an Assess–Plan–Do–Review meeting

These are practical questions derived from the framework, not a statutory questionnaire. Choose the questions that fit your child and the purpose of the meeting.

Starting point

What was the baseline? What could my child do, access or tolerate before this support began?
Intended outcome

What precise difference were we working towards? Is it an outcome for my child rather than merely a list of sessions?
Provision

What was agreed, who was responsible, how often and for how long should it have happened, and in which settings?
Actual delivery

Was the support delivered as planned? Were sessions or adjustments missed, shortened, changed or delivered by different staff?
Ordinary teaching

How did classroom teaching or reasonable adjustments change? How did the class or subject teacher support transfer into ordinary lessons?
Impact

What evidence shows a change from the baseline, including progress outside the intervention session?
Pupil’s view

Does my child understand the support, find it accessible and notice any benefit or disadvantage?
Parent observations

Is there relevant information from home about fatigue, distress, confidence, homework or transfer of the skill?
Unanswered questions

What remains unexplained? Does the assessment need to be updated or broadened?
Next change

What will continue, stop, change or become more intensive, and why? When is the next review?
Further help

Is specialist advice now needed? Could an EHC needs assessment be necessary?

A review request you can adapt

Suggested wording for clear next steps

When this applies

Use it in an email before the meeting or during the review when you want the revised plan and review date recorded.

Suggested wording

Please can we separate what was agreed, what was actually delivered and what difference it made? Where progress was limited, I would like the revised assessment, changed provision, intended outcome and next review date recorded.

Why this helps

This wording can help when a discussion has not clearly separated the agreed support, actual delivery, impact and next decision.

It asks for observable information and a reasoned next step without assuming why progress was limited or prescribing a particular intervention.

What should change when SEND support is not working?

Limited progress should lead to a reasoned change, not an automatic repeat of the same support. This is an evidence-led guide rather than a statutory decision tree or a prescription for an individual pupil.

What the evidence shows	The next response to consider
The provision was not delivered as agreed.	Resolve staffing, scheduling, training or access problems; record how missed provision will be addressed; then gather enough evidence to judge the approach fairly.
The provision happened, but the pupil could not access or engage with it.	Change the format, environment, pace, communication, group size or reasonable adjustments, and involve the pupil in identifying the barrier.
The targeted skill improved during the intervention but not in ordinary lessons.	Plan explicit transfer and practice in ordinary teaching, with the class or subject teacher responsible for integration.
The baseline or intended outcome was too vague to judge.	Reassess and rewrite the outcome and evidence criteria rather than declaring success or failure without a valid comparison.
The assessment missed or misunderstood part of the need.	Gather broader information, consider co-occurring barriers and seek relevant specialist advice where appropriate.
The support was delivered well and was accessible, but the intended difference did not occur.	Adapt, replace or intensify evidence-informed provision, record the rationale and set a new review date.
The pupil’s needs appear greater or more complex than school-level arrangements can meet.	Consider specialist involvement and whether an EHC needs assessment may be necessary. There is no universal requirement to complete a fixed number of APDR cycles first.

Note

When to seek specialist advice, raise concerns or consider an EHC needs assessment

Correct delivery, access or planning problems through the next review. Involve the SENCO, identify what prevented the agreed support from working and record the change.
Ask about relevant specialist advice. Schools should consider specialist involvement where a pupil continues to make less than expected progress despite evidence-based support matched to need. The appropriate professional depends on the assessed barrier, the individual pupil and local services. Parents should be involved in the decision.
Raise unresolved school-level concerns. If SEN Support is not being provided or reviewed properly, raise the issue with the SENCO. If it remains unresolved, use the school’s formal complaints process. Complaints about school-level support and disagreements about an EHC assessment or plan follow different processes. GOV.UK explains school SEN complaints.
Consider an EHC needs assessment where the legal test may be met. There is no universal requirement for a diagnosis, a fixed number of APDR cycles or a fixed school-spend threshold. The question is whether the child or young person has or may have SEN and whether it may be necessary for provision to be made through an EHC plan. A parent or young person can bring the possible need for assessment to the local authority’s attention. IPSEA explains why local authorities cannot impose invented prerequisites.

Decision caveat

SEN Support records and EHC plans are not the same

England’s SEND Code says important SEN Support decisions and discussions should be recorded and shared, but it does not prescribe one universal document title called an SEN Support Plan. A school may use a support plan, provision map, pupil passport, individual education plan or another record. The useful test is whether the record clearly sets out the needs, outcomes, provision, responsibilities, evidence and review decision.

A school-level record does not have the same legal status as specified provision in Section F of a final EHC plan. That does not make school duties optional: schools still have duties including best endeavours and regard to the SEND Code. Clear, concrete wording remains important because it makes support easier to deliver, monitor and review.

When this advice is not enough

You need to decide whether provision in an individual EHC plan is sufficiently specific, whether required provision has been secured or what legal action is available in a particular case.

What to do instead

Use the final plan and current official guidance, and obtain independent specialist advice about the individual documents and circumstances.

Latimer view

Where tutoring may fit alongside school support

Tutoring may help a pupil practise agreed skills, hear an explanation in a different way and provide additional feedback alongside the school plan. It does not replace the school’s SEND duties, an appropriate professional assessment or statutory provision.

Latimer’s parent guidance puts the boundary clearly:

“tutoring should not be the only response” — Latimer Tuition

The matching service can use the subject, level, goal and timing you provide and may recommend up to three tutors, with no obligation to book. When requesting a match, state the experience or qualification you are looking for and check the proposed tutor’s current profile; do not assume that every tutor has specialist SEND expertise.

Match me with a tutor or find a tutor.

Sources and further reading

The main England source is the statutory SEND Code of Practice. The nation-specific links explain the different frameworks elsewhere in the UK; the Latimer links support the tutoring boundary and matching information used in this guide.

GOV.UK SEND Code of Practice

Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care · statutory guidance for England

Open source 1
Special educational needs support

GOV.UK · parent-facing overview for England

Open source 2
Reasonable adjustments in education

GOV.UK · Equality Act information

Open source 3
The best endeavours duty

IPSEA · independent legal explanation

Open source 4
EHC needs assessment requests and local prerequisites

IPSEA · independent legal explanation

Open source 5
School SEN complaints

GOV.UK · school-level concerns

Open source 6
SEND reform: putting children and young people first

Department for Education · 2026 proposals, not replacement law as at 4 August 2026

Open source 7
Additional Learning Needs Code for Wales

Welsh Government · Wales framework

Open source 8
Supporting Children’s Learning Code consultation

Scottish Government · additional support for learning; consultation source

Open source 9
Special educational needs: code of practice

Department of Education Northern Ireland · Northern Ireland framework

Open source 10
How to Support Tutoring Between Lessons

Latimer Tuition · tutoring alongside wider support

Open source 11
Match Me With a Tutor

Latimer Tuition · current matching information

Open source 12

Related guidance

More guidance from this section

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Related guidance

SEN Support vs EHCP: what each provides

Understand what schools should provide through SEN Support, what an EHC needs assessment investigates, and what changes when a final EHC plan is issued.

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7 Plus Exam Guide for Parents: What Schools Assess and How to Prepare

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Related guidance

Dyscalculia tutor guide for parents

Understand which persistent maths patterns merit follow-up, what evidence to ask school for, and how to choose suitable specialist support without confusing tutoring with diagnosis.

Support and clarity

Frequently asked questions

Straight answers to the questions people ask most often.

What is Assess–Plan–Do–Review in SEND?

In England, it is the repeating four-part cycle used within the graduated approach to SEN Support. It assesses needs and barriers, plans outcomes and provision, delivers support, reviews quality and impact, and revises what happens next. It is not one form completed once or the name of a single intervention.

Is APDR the same as SEN Support?

No. APDR is the cycle used to organise and review support. SEN Support is the school-level support arranged for a pupil with SEN who does not necessarily have an EHC plan; the graduated approach is the wider responsive approach in which understanding and support develop as evidence grows.

Does a child need a diagnosis before receiving SEN Support?

A medical diagnosis is not stated as a prerequisite for SEN Support in England. Schools should respond to identified and evidenced needs, although diagnostic or professional information may still help the assessment and planning.

Does every school have to use a document called an SEN Support Plan?

No single national document title is prescribed by the SEND Code. Schools should record and share important decisions, but they may use different names and forms. The important question is whether the record clearly sets out needs, outcomes, provision, responsibilities, evidence and review decisions.

How often should Assess–Plan–Do–Review be reviewed?

For pupils receiving SEN Support in England, schools should meet parents at least three times each year and share a record. A clear review date should be agreed, but there is no universal rule that every intervention must last a full school term. Review may need to happen sooner when support is inaccessible, circumstances change or new evidence emerges.

What should happen if SEN Support is not working?

The review should identify why progress is limited rather than simply repeat the same support. The next response may involve correcting delivery, removing access barriers, revising the outcome, reassessing need, changing or intensifying provision, or seeking specialist advice. The decision and next review date should be recorded.

How many APDR cycles are needed before asking for an EHC needs assessment?

There is no universal fixed number of APDR cycles or school-spend threshold in the statutory test. The question is whether the child or young person has or may have SEN and whether provision through an EHC plan may be necessary. A parent or young person can bring the possible need for assessment to the local authority’s attention.

Is Assess–Plan–Do–Review used throughout the UK?

APDR is the term used in England’s SEND framework. Wales uses the ALN system and Individual Development Plans; Scotland uses additional support for learning; and Northern Ireland has its own SEN Code and staged arrangements. Families should use the terminology and guidance for the nation in which the child is educated.

Official guidance

1.
GOV.UK SEND Code of Practice
Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care · 2014-06-11 · Accessed 2026-08-04
Primary England source for SEN Support, the graduated approach, APDR, responsibilities, records, reviews, outcomes and EHC plans. The linked statutory guidance is dated January 2015; the publication page was updated on 12 September 2024.
2.
GOV.UK: Special educational needs support
GOV.UK · Accessed 2026-08-04
Accessible parent-facing explanation of SEN Support in England.
3.
GOV.UK: Help if you have a disabled child — Education
GOV.UK · Accessed 2026-08-04
Official information on disability protection and reasonable adjustments in education.
4.
GOV.UK: Complain about a school — Special educational needs
GOV.UK · Accessed 2026-08-04
Official information on raising unresolved concerns about school-level SEN Support.
5.
Department for Education: SEND reform — putting children and young people first
Department for Education · 2026-02-23 · Accessed 2026-08-04
England reform consultation and proposals, updated 27 April 2026. The page is used only to distinguish proposals from current law.
6.
Welsh Government: Additional Learning Needs Code for Wales 2021
Welsh Government · 2021-03-02 · Accessed 2026-08-04
Primary source for Wales’s ALN, additional learning provision and Individual Development Plan framework.
7.
Scottish Government: Supporting Children’s Learning Code consultation
Scottish Government · 2026-02-12 · Accessed 2026-08-04
Official consultation source supporting Scotland’s distinct additional-support terminology; the final post-consultation position requires a currency check before publication.
8.
Department of Education Northern Ireland: Special educational needs code of practice
Department of Education Northern Ireland · Accessed 2026-08-04
Primary source for Northern Ireland’s separate SEN Code and arrangements.

Internal pages

1.
Latimer Tuition: How to Support Tutoring Between Lessons
Latimer Tuition · Accessed 2026-08-04
2.
Latimer Tuition: Match Me With a Tutor
Latimer Tuition · Accessed 2026-08-04

Other sources

1.
IPSEA: The best endeavours duty
Independent Provider of Special Education Advice · Accessed 2026-08-04
Independent legal explanation of the best-endeavours duty, used alongside the official SEND Code.
2.
IPSEA: EHC needs assessment requests and local prerequisites
Independent Provider of Special Education Advice · 2024-08 · Accessed 2026-08-04
Independent legal explanation of the statutory assessment test and why local authorities cannot substitute invented prerequisites.