Graduated approach

Also called Assess, plan, do, review, APDR

The four-step cycle schools must use for SEN support. It is a cycle, not a form.

What it is

The graduated approach is the cycle the SEND Code of Practice requires schools to use: assess what the difficulty is, plan what to do about it, do it, then review whether it worked — and go round again with what you learned.

It is the only SEN support process the Code actually requires. The paperwork schools wrap around it varies.

Where it applies

Every pupil on SEN support in every mainstream school, and it continues alongside an EHCP too.

How it works

Each cycle should be time-limited and should have a way of telling whether it worked. Parents and the pupil should be involved at each stage, and the school should meet parents at least termly.

"Do" is the step that quietly disappears. A plan that was written and then not delivered because the teaching assistant was covering elsewhere is a cycle that produced no information, and repeating it produces none either.

What you can ask for

Ask what was tried, for how long, and what changed. If the answer is not specific, the cycle has not really been run.

Ask what happens next if this cycle does not work. A school that cannot answer that has not planned a cycle, it has described an intention.

After two or three cycles with no progress, ask about an EHC needs assessment — evidence of cycles that did not work is exactly what a council needs to see.

Where to get help

SENDIASS can come to meetings with you. The SEND Code of Practice, chapter 6, is the source and is readable.