The Education Order (NI) 1996 says that a child has special educational needs if:

• they have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age which causes them to need special educational provision (that is, educational provision that is additional to or otherwise different from that which other pupils their age receive at school); or
• they have a disability which causes them to need additional or different provision.

There are three stages of special educational provision. What stage of special educational provision a child or young person receives will depend on the level of support they need. The three stages are:

• Stage 1 – The school by itself gives the extra support needed.
• Stage 2 – The school still provides the child or young person with support, plus extra support is provided from people outside the school.
• Stage 3 – The school still gives support, and the child or young person also has a statement of special educational needs which the Education Authority provides. This is known as a ‘Statement’ and it outlines what support is needed to help the child or young person learn; for example, they might be provided with specialist equipment.