The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, as amended, (often called the ASL Act), says that your local authority is responsible for making sure children and young people get the support they need. The law doesn’t say exactly what support should look like because every child is different. The support your child gets should be based on their individual needs, building on their strengths and helping them overcome any barriers to their learning. 

Your child’s support must be ‘adequate and efficient’ and help your child to fully benefit from their education. This means that although cost should not be the primary consideration when planning support, the local authority should consider how best to provide support within their means and resources.

What your child’s support will look like will depend on their individual needs. It may be a combination of different supports.

Some examples of the types of support that may be offered are:

Adapting the curriculum

Support or advice from a specialist

Support from a classroom or pupil support assistant

Access to additional resources and materials

Adapting the school or nursery environment

Individual or small-group teaching

Access to a nurture or support base

Peer support

You and your child should be involved in planning your child’s support, and you should have your views and ideas listened to. You may be asked to attend meetings or to contribute in writing as part of the planning process.

Involving your child in decisions about their additional support is essential information to ensure their views are heard and acted on as part of the process.

You are the expert on your child. You could share with your child’s school your understanding of their needs. For example, what works well for your child at home or in other settings, or any triggers that it would help the school to know about. For more about your rights to be involved in decisions about your child’s learning and support, see our page Parents’ rights to be involved.

Advice for parents /

Parents’ rights to be involved

Parents and carers know their child best. By law, they have the right to be involved in decisions about their child’s learning and support. This section explains parents rights to share their views.

Your child’s school or nursery should work with you and your child to work out what support will work best. They should also take account of information from any other professionals that work with your child, such as an educational psychologist, health professional, or social worker.

Together, you can talk about your child’s needs and what support might help. You could share things you do at home to support your child, and their teacher(s) might have suggestions based on their professional knowledge. It is also important to include your child’s views – what do they think they need help with? How do they feel about the ideas you or their teacher have suggested?

You can find information and links to other organisations resources, for some needs, on our page Understanding additional support needs. 

Remember, planning your child’s support should be an ongoing process. Your child’s support should be regularly reviewed. Their needs might change over time, and the support that works for them might change, too. Sometimes, it might be a case of trying out a few different things to see what works best. 

You can also find out more on our pages Identifying and assessing your child’s needs and How support is planned. 

Advice for parents /

Identifying and assessing your child’s needs

If you think your child may need more or different support at school, this section covers all you need to know about identifying and assessing additional support needs.

Advice for parents /

How support is planned

A useful summary of how schools and local authorities plan children’s learning and support.

There are lots of ways that your child could be supported, and one-to-one support from a dedicated member of staff is only one example.

The most important thing is that the support is designed to meet your child’s individual needs. Your child’s school or nursery should work with you and your child to find what is right for them.

It is fairly rare for a child to have full time one-to-one support. Whether this is possible will depend on the reasons why your child might need it, and whether there are other options that could also meet their needs. Although guidance on the law is clear that cost should not be the primary consideration when deciding support, schools have to be sure they are making the best of the resources they have. 

For example, your child’s school may feel that your child will gain similar benefit from working in a small group, rather than one-to-one. This would mean that your child would receive the additional support they need, and other pupils would benefit, too.

However, lack of staff/resources should not be the only or main reason not to provide one to one support, if it’s been identified that your child needs it. It’s ultimately the local authority’s duty to make sure your child is fully supported. The school (or you) can speak to them directly if there are concerns that your child isn’t getting the level of support they need.

If one to one support is not possible for your child, remember that they are still entitled to support that helps them fully benefit from their education, so their school or nursery should put in place other support that meets your child’s needs. For some examples, have a look above at ‘What might my child’s support look like?‘

Your child’s support should be based on their individual needs. As every child and situation is different, some children will have different support to others, even if they might seem to have similar needs or the same diagnosis.

If you feel that your child is not getting the support they need, you should talk with the person responsible for additional support for learning at their school or nursery. You could ask for a meeting to discuss how they feel they are meeting your child’s needs and share your concerns about your child’s support. Take a look at our page Getting the most from meetings for further advice.

Advice for parents /

Getting the most from meetings

Meetings with your child’s school are a good way to hear about how your child is doing at school. Read on for helpful tips about how you can help to make meetings with your child’s school a positive experience.

School education is not limited to what happens in the classroom. It includes the wider life of the school, such as trips, residential stays, clubs and other activities. This means the support your child receives should cover all of these areas, not just their learning in lessons. 

If your child has additional support needs, their school or early years setting and the local authority are responsible for supporting them to take part as fully as possible in school life. This includes thinking about what support is needed for trips and residential experiences. This should include planning for things like healthcare needs or personal support when your child is away from the school setting. 

Planning should be done in good time and in partnership with you and your child. The school should consider your child’s individual needs and look at how any barriers can be reduced so your child can take part safely. This may include carrying out a more detailed or individual risk assessment where needed. 

Considerations might include: 

If your child is disabled, they also have rights under the Equality Act 2010. Schools must not discriminate and must make reasonable adjustments, including for day trips and residential stays. 

Schools should also make sure that all children and young people are supported to take part in a way that respects their identity. 

Sometimes a school may say a child can attend part of a trip but not stay overnight. If this happens, they should clearly explain why and what support has been considered. Decisions should be based on your child’s individual needs, not general policies or assumptions. 

Before deciding your child cannot fully participate, the school should consider all reasonable options. You can ask for a meeting to discuss your child’s needs and any concerns. Your child should also have a chance to share their views. 

If you feel your child is being treated unfairly, you can raise this with the school or local authority. If your child is disabled, the school needs to be aware of the potential for discrimination. You can read more about what counts as disability discrimination on our page Disability rights. 

If it is not possible for your child to take part, the school should explain why and consider whether an alternative, equivalent experience can be offered that ensures inclusion. 

In some cases, a parent or carer may be invited to attend a trip to support their child. This can be helpful for some families, but it should be discussed and agreed with you and your child. Rather than being an expectation on the family, the school remains responsible for making sure your child is supported in all aspects of their education, including school trips. 

If you are worried that your child is not getting the support they need, you should talk to the person at their school or nursery who is responsible for additional support for learning. You could ask for a meeting to discuss your child’s support and to share your concerns.

At the meeting, you could:

It may also be helpful to ask for a written support plan to help keep track of your child’s support at school. For more information on the types of support plan available, have a look at our page How support is planned.

Further steps you can take if you are in disagreement with a local authority about your child’s support can be found on our page Solving problems with your child’s school.

Advice for parents /

How support is planned

A useful summary of how schools and local authorities plan children’s learning and support.

Advice for professionals /

Solving problems

Understand what options are open to children, young people and their families if everyone is struggling to agree on the best way forwards. Find out how these options may help you get things back on track.