What funding is available to all providers offering early education to meet the needs of children with SEND.
SEN support for children in early years should come from a cycle, known as the graduated approach. This means that when you identify a child as needing support to meet their special educational needs, the setting's SENCO should carry out an assessment of their needs.
The SEND Code of Practice says you should agree in consultation with the child's parents:
- how to respond to the child's needs by putting in place interventions and support
- the expected impact on the child's progress
- a clear date for review
The four stages of the graduated approach cycle are:
- assess
- plan
- do
- review
This approach is designed to make sure that providers revisit earlier decisions and actions so that goals can be refined as you get a clearer understanding of the child's needs.
Further information on the Graduated approach.
What funding is available in Early Years
Early years providers can get funding to provide support for children with SEN from:
- universal funding
- targeted funding
- Early Years Special Educational Needs Panel funding
Universal funding
Providers get an amount per hour, per child, which early years settings get whether a child has SEND or not.
Targeted funding
Funding for three and four year olds, based on a deprivation supplement paid for each child depending on their home postcode.
Early Years Special Educational Needs Panel funding
You can apply for Early Years Special Educational Needs Panel funding to support some children with special educational needs.
Apply for early years funding.
The Disability Access Fund
The Disability Access Fund provides an additional £828 each year to help early years providers make adjustments to their settings that support disabled children. It's available to three and four year olds who get Disability Living Allowance and go to an early years childcare provider for the universal free early education entitlement.
The pdf Disability Access Fund information sheet (137 KB) tells you how to claim this funding.
How we pay Early Years Special Educational Needs Panel funding to a setting
The funding we pay:
- goes directly to the setting where the child is registered
- transfers with the child when they move to a different setting
- can be shared across each setting if the child goes to more than one place while taking up the 15 hours of funded entitlement
- is extended to cover additional hours for three and four year olds if parents are eligible to claim for a further 15 hours of additional funded entitlement
- is extended to cover additional hours if parents are paying for childcare
How we decide on the appropriate level of funding
We use a banding system called the pdf Early Years Bristol Universal Descriptors (359 KB) to decide what level of funding is appropriate for a child, based on their individual needs.
