Education 5 to 11

Wiltshire has libraries across the county, including mobile spaces. There are many ways these services are adapted to improve access for those in the SEND community.

Find out more about library services for those with additional needs visit:

SEND library services

Full accessibility information about specific locations can be found on the Library locations, opening times and mobile libraries page.

Information and links for professionals and parents regarding SEND educational placements in Wiltshire.

For more information visit: 

Moving in or out of Wiltshire with an EHCP

For more information about EBSA visit: Information on emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA)

For more information visit: 

Wiltshire's Music Support - Make Music Swindon (opens new window)

The freedom to educate children at home forms an intrinsic and essential element of educational provision in our society, a right that has been protected by a succession of Education Acts.

If you want to home educate your child, you should inform the headteacher of your child's school and the school should then inform us, see Home education for further information.

For a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) where a Special School is named the situation is different and the local authority must be consulted and give permission for education at home.

The local authority also takes responsibility for ensuring that the Education, Health and Care Plan is reviewed annually. For information on home education including a guide for parents visit:

Home education

If your child has never attended school, please inform us of your decision to educate at home. You can contact an education welfare officer by email: EWS@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window) or you can talk to the SEND team about support with additional needs by visiting Contacting the Wiltshire SEND team.

Schools may wish to contact the Education Welfare Service for training and support on attendance related practice, more information can be found by visiting Right Choice: Education Welfare Service Information (opens new window).

Wiltshire Council provides a range of sessions on parenting across various ages and specialities.

Time Out for Parents

No diagnosis or EHCP required.

Children with Special Needs (TOFP) is for parents and carers of children with additional or special needs aged 3-11 years. TOFP courses are 2 hours per week for 7 sessions and are free of charge. A medical or formal diagnosis is not required for parents and carers to attend. Wiltshire Council are working in partnership with the Wiltshire Parent Carer Council to offer these courses.

For further information and how to book courses visit:

Time Out for Parents

Supporting My Neurodivergent Young Person (SMNYP)

SMNYP has replaced SWAPP (Support in Wiltshire for Autism Parenting Programme).

It is an in-depth programme for parents/carers of school/college aged neurodivergent children and young people. It is facilitated by professionals who have specialist knowledge and experience of autism, ADHD and other neurodiversities and may also have lived experience themselves as parents. The focus is upon practical strategies to support you and your child based upon current research, evidence-based practice and professional experience.

For more information and how to apply visit:

Supporting My Neurodivergent Young Person (SMNYP)

• Sensory needs can be difficulties with any sense, it is most commonly difficulties with vision or hearing. However, especially among children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders, it can also include challenges with sense of touch or reaction to strong smells or noise levels
• Social, emotional and mental health needs relates to how children and young people respond to situations and environments they find themselves in and how they form and maintain relationships
• Cognitive and learning needs relates to how a child or young person understands, processes and retains information and therefore, how they are able, or struggle, to learn. For example those with dyslexia
• Communication and interaction needs relates to how a child or young person expresses themselves and communicates with those around them. It is most commonly associated with challenges speaking, but can also include children and young people who struggle to express or understand their emotions or to make it clear how they feel
• Physical and medical needs are those associated with a child's or young person's body or health. This is most commonly associated with challenges in movement or independent personal care. However, it may include a range of illnesses, or bodily difficulties that affect a child or young person in a setting

Personal Budgets

A personal budget is the money Wiltshire Council allocates to an individual to meet their assessed support needs.

An outcome based assessment will be carried out to establish an approximate figure for how much the council would need to spend to meet an individual's needs.

A personal SEN budget is a sum of money made available to an educational setting by a local council, above and beyond the basic funding settings receive for all children and young people (top up funding), to allow them to meet a child or young person's educational need. This budget will be used to support a child or young person to achieve pre-agreed educational outcomes. The need for a personal budget is considered as part of the statutory assessment. If you have questions about this you can talk to your lead worker if you have one, or Contacting the Wiltshire SEND team.

As of September 2023 there are currently 60 children/young people with Personal Budgets. These range in value, the largest valued at £80,581.

Applications are typically accepted if the Personal Budgets will directly support the outcomes of a learner's Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP).

You can read the policy information and further guidance on personal budgets in the document library.

Childcare funding and other support

Are you accessing all the help available for the cost of childcare? Childcare Choices (opens new window) is a Government website that can help you see what you may be entitled to. You may also want to visit Money advice 5 to 11

For schools, parents, and other commissioners of alternative provision

Alternative provision (AP) refers to something in which a learner participates: As part of their regular timetable, away from the site of the school and not led by school staff or by parents.

AP can be 'Commissioned' by schools, parent, carers, or learners who have been given a budget to manage their educational needs.

Commissioners refers to schools, parents of a learner, or a learner, who has been granted a personal budget to meet the outcomes detailed in the learner's EHCP Note. While schools can commission alternative provision for any learner at risk of exclusion or to reengage learners in their education, only those parents/learners who have a personal budget can commission Alternative Provision.

Each educational establishment will have a strategy to support SEN learners and may use their budget in different ways, if they access AP it will be to choose available provision best suited to the individuals needs where possible. For learners with an EHCP there may be additional budget allocated to allow for specific support dependent on reviewing the learners needs. This can be discussed in annual reviews or during initial evaluations. EHCPs always include a section for the voice of parent/carers and the individual to suggest support they feel might benefit them, these suggestions are taken seriously and included with discussions about the plan.

Wiltshire Council has a directory which can be found via Right Choice of providers which have had a level of quality assurance vetting, this helps commissioners get a head start but does not replace the commissioner responsibilities (information can be found in the AP guide). The directory is not definitive, if you have links with a provider that you might like to work with and they are not listed on the Wiltshire Approved Alternative Provision directory, please ask the provider to contact alternativeprovision@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window) for further details.

The most up-to-date information and support can always be found on the platform for Wiltshire SEN professionals: Right Choice: Alternative Provision resources (opens new window)

Email alternativeprovision@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window) to answer any further questions not covered by the Right Choice materials.

For more information visit:

Guide to Alternative Provision

All mainstream primary schools have Enhanced Learning Provision (ELP).

This is for all the learning needs to be described in the SEN Code of Practice under the headings Cognition and Learning, and Communication and Interaction.

For example specific learning difficulties such as:

• dyslexia
• dyspraxia
• autistic spectrum disorders
• language and communication difficulties
• moderate learning difficulties

Wiltshire EMTAS is a Wiltshire Council service, supporting schools to meet the needs of learners of English as an Additional Language (EAL) and other minority ethnic children and young people, including Travellers.

The service consists of:

• Bilingual Assistants (peripatetic Teaching Assistants who work alongside learners in the classroom and support with home/school contact)
• Specialist TAs who work to support the achievement of Traveller children and help built strong, effective home/school partnerships
• Advisory Teachers (who support schools with raising their own capacity through advice and training, and who can assess learners and make recommendations about provision)

Schools can refer individual children to us via the DART. For anything else, or for more informal advice contact service lead Steven Donohue:

Tel: 0300 456 0108 option 3 > option 5 (office) 

Email: emtas@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window)

More information at Right Choice: Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS) (opens new window).

Wiltshire Council is working with our local schools to increase the number of special school and resource base places available in Wiltshire to meet growing demand for specialist SEN school places. To read more about this topic visit SEN Place Projects

To find more specific statutory information or guidance for parent/ carers or professionals supporting SEND visit our SEND resources section which is linked below:

SEND Resources 5 to 11

If you are looking for strategic information or SEND service reviews:

SEND services reviews and strategies