Supporting children’s learning code of practice
Your response to this consultation should be informed by the refreshed draft Supporting Children's Learning Code of Practice and we recommend that you review this before responding. A summary and an Easy Read are also available. The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (the 2004 Act) provides the legal framework for identifying and addressing the additional support needs of children and young people who face a barrier, or barriers, to learning. The 2004 Act aims to ensure that all children and young people are provided with the necessary support to help them work towards achieving their full potential. It also promotes collaborative working among all those supporting children and young people and sets out the rights of children, young people and parents within the system. The Code of Practice, which provides statutory guidance on this legal framework, was most recently revised in 2017 following amendments made to the 2004 Act exte
Supporting children’s learning code of practice
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Supporting children’s learning code of practice
Overview
Your response to this consultation should be informed by the refreshed
draft Supporting Children's Learning Code of Practice
and we recommend that you review this before responding. A
summary
and an
Easy Read
are also available.
The
Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004
(the 2004 Act) provides the legal framework for identifying and addressing the additional support needs of children and young people who face a barrier, or barriers, to learning. The 2004 Act aims to ensure that all children and young people are provided with the necessary support to help them work towards achieving their full potential. It also promotes collaborative working among all those supporting children and young people and sets out the rights of children, young people and parents within the system.
The Code of Practice, which
provides statutory guidance on this legal framework,
was most recently revised in 2017 following amendments made to the 2004 Act extending rights to children aged 12 and over. Since then, Scottish Ministers have committed to reviewing the guidance to ensure it remains accessible to users and fit for purpose in supporting the wide audience engaging with the legislation on a day-to-day basis.
Read the consultation paper
. The consultation paper contains full background information for this consultation. You may find it useful to read or refer to while responding.
Consultation questions preview
Consultation questions preview
The consultation questions are included here for your reference. Please click 'Begin consultation' at the bottom of this page to proceed.
The refreshed guidance sufficiently makes clear that it is a statutory document, which is legally required to detail the 2004 Act’s provisions and the secondary legislation that supports it.
The draft guidance is clear, accessible, and reader-friendly for the wide audience it is intended to support.
The refreshed guidance accurately reflects existing additional support for learning legislation and key policies affecting children and young people with additional support needs.
The refreshed guidance provides sufficient detail on each section of the 2004 Act.
The guidance document sufficiently signposts or provides links to further guidance and support where necessary.
Which areas of the refreshed guidance would most benefit from practical case studies to help school staff in supporting children and young people with additional support needs?
Please provide any further comments you may have on the guidance document.
Useful information about responding to this consultation
Useful information about responding to this consultation
As you complete your response, each page will provide the option to 'Save and come back later' at the bottom. This means you can save your progress and return to the consultation at any time before it closes. If you don't use this feature and leave the consultation midway through, your response will be lost.
Once you have submitted your response, you can enter your email address to get a pdf copy of your answers sent to you.
On the 'About You' page at the end of this consultation, organisations will have the opportunity to tell us more about their work and/or how their response was informed.
After the consultation has closed there will be a few months delay before any responses are published. This is because we must check any responses to be published abide by our
Terms of Use
.
All relevant submitted responses will be analysed. This may be carried out by third party organisations who Scottish Government, its executive agencies or non-ministerial offices, contract to do this work. Such data sharing will be governed by appropriate contractual arrangements to keep your data secure.
An analysis report will usually be published some months after the consultation has closed. This report will summarise the findings based on all responses submitted. It will be published on the
Scottish Government website
and you may be notified about it if you choose to share your email address with us.
You can also
join our consultation mailing list
where we regularly list newly published analysis reports (as well as new consultations).
Why your views matter
We welcome answers to this consultation from all affected stakeholders.
The refreshed guidance aims to improve clarity, readability and navigation for all users. The consultation therefore seeks your views on these areas and on the guidance as a whole.
What happens next
Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us. Responses will be published where we have been given permission to do so. An analysis report will also be made available.
Closed
7 May 2026
Opened
12 Feb 2026
Contact
Supporting Learners
additionalsupportcodeofpractice@gov.scot
Interests
Education
Main hub
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