Additional Learning Needs (ALN) in Wales: How to support vulnerable learners
Across Wales, schools and local authorities are working to ensure children and young people with Additional Learning Needs (ALN) receive the support they need to access education and make progress.
In January 2025, 43,885 pupils in maintained schools in Wales were recorded as having ALN or SEN provision, representing 9.5% of all pupils. Of these, 32,127 had an Individual Development Plan (IDP) under the new ALN system.
Those figures sit within a period of significant change. The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 introduced a new statutory framework for supporting learners with additional learning needs, replacing the previous SEN system and extending a consistent approach across education up to the age of 25.
For schools, ALNCos and local authorities, however, identifying a learner’s needs is only part of the challenge. The next question is practical: what provision will enable that learner to access education, participate and progress?
For some children and young people, this may involve additional support within their existing classroom. For others – particularly where anxiety, health needs, prolonged absence or difficulties accessing the school environment are involved – a more flexible form of provision may be needed.
What are Additional Learning Needs (ALN)?
Additional Learning Needs, or ALN, is the term used in Wales for children and young people whose learning difficulty or disability calls for Additional Learning Provision (ALP).
Under the Welsh ALN system, a learner has ALN when they have a learning difficulty or disability that requires educational or training provision additional to, or different from, that generally available to others of the same age.
ALN is not determined simply by whether a learner has a particular diagnosis. The focus is on the learner’s needs and the provision required to support their learning. A wide range of circumstances can therefore sit within ALN, and the support required can vary significantly from one learner to another.
How is ALN different from SEN?
The terminology is sometimes used interchangeably outside Wales, but the Welsh ALN framework is a distinct system. The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 replaced the previous framework with a unified system covering children and young people in Wales who have ALN and are in education, including young people up to the age of 25 in further education.
Several familiar terms have consequently changed:
- SEN became Additional Learning Needs (ALN)
- SENCO became Additional Learning Needs Coordinator (ALNCo)
- Special Educational Provision became Additional Learning Provision (ALP)
- Previous statutory and non-statutory plans have been replaced by the Individual Development Plan (IDP) for learners identified as having ALN.
For schools in Wales, this means guidance relating to SEN and Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in England should not be assumed to apply to learners in Wales.
What is an Individual Development Plan (IDP)?
An Individual Development Plan, commonly known as an IDP, is the statutory plan used for a child or young person who has been identified as having ALN.
It records the learner’s additional learning needs and the Additional Learning Provision (ALP) required to address those needs. It also provides a basis for monitoring and reviewing the learner’s progress.
Welsh Government guidance is clear that an IDP should result in effective support that meets the learner’s needs and improves their outcomes. It is developed with the child or young person and their parent or carer, and it should remain responsive as their needs change.
That makes the provision behind the document crucial. An IDP can identify what a learner needs. Still, schools and local authorities must then consider how that provision can be delivered effectively – including when a learner is struggling to access their usual classroom or setting.
Additional Learning Needs and barriers to education
For some learners with ALN, the challenge is not academic ability. A young person may be capable of making good academic progress while struggling with aspects of a mainstream school environment. Anxiety, sensory pressures, social demands, medical needs or previous experiences of education can make regular attendance or participation difficult.
In these circumstances, continuing to expect a learner to access education in the same way may not address the underlying barrier. The Welsh Government’s 2026 guidance on ALN and Education Otherwise Than at School (EOTAS) recognises that learners receiving EOTAS may have ALN and may be unable to attend or engage in education for reasons related to those needs.
Where they have an IDP, it should continue to be maintained and may need an early review to ensure the ALP remains appropriate to their changed circumstances. For schools and local authorities, this makes access to a range of appropriate provision particularly important.
How can online alternative provision support learners with ALN?
Online alternative provision can form one part of a learner’s wider support when their current circumstances make accessing mainstream lessons difficult.
Effective online provision can provide live teaching, regular interaction with teachers, structured routines, curriculum continuity and measurable oversight of attendance and engagement, while reducing some of the pressures that may be affecting a learner’s ability to participate.
For some students, learning from home or an inclusion base within school can reduce sensory and social pressures. Students who are uncomfortable participating on camera can still engage through tools such as chat, polls and interactive whiteboards.
How Academy21 supports students with Additional Learning Needs
Academy21 was founded in Wales in 2011 and works in partnership with schools and local authorities across Wales to provide online education for learners who need additional support to engage with education. Our provision is currently delivered through the medium of English and supports the Welsh language.
Our model is designed to give schools flexibility around each learner while maintaining structured, teacher-led education.
Live teaching in small groups
Academy21 lessons are 100% live, giving learners real-time access to teachers and opportunities to interact during lessons. Lessons are also recorded so students can revisit content.
Teachers use adaptive and relational approaches, and staff receive professional learning including trauma-informed and quality-first teaching. Teaching and support staff in Wales are registered with the Education Workforce Council (EWC).
Participation that can adapt to the learner
Our virtual environment provides several ways to engage. Students can communicate through written chat, polls, quizzes, microphones and virtual whiteboards, including private communication with their teacher.
This can be particularly useful where anxiety or other needs create a barrier to speaking in front of a class. 95% of our students say our technology features help them participate, while 93% say they have more confidence in their learning since joining Academy21.
Provision that can complement an IDP
Where appropriate, online provision can also support the delivery of outcomes identified through a learner’s IDP. Academy21’s approach includes Individual Teaching Plans, which are designed to match a child’s learning needs and IDP closely. These plans are developed with students and schools and set out educational goals, learning strategies and support measures for the individual learner.
Extensive pastoral support
Academy21 also offers Enhanced Support Services that can sit alongside academic provision, including anxiety management, social skills, wellbeing mentoring, literacy support and numeracy and maths support. This gives schools scope to construct provision around both academic learning and specific barriers to engagement.
Curriculum continuity for learners in Wales
Maintaining access to an appropriate curriculum is particularly important when a learner with ALN experiences an extended period away from mainstream lessons.
Academy21 provides provision from Years 5 to 11 in Wales, with our Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 programmes aligned with the Curriculum for Wales. At Key Stage 4, targeted WJEC provision is available, including Welsh examination specifications in core subjects. This can help schools maintain academic continuity when a learner is unable to access their usual timetable, including during important GCSE years.
Using online provision to support reintegration
For some learners with ALN, online alternative provision may be part of a longer-term placement. For others, its purpose may be to create enough stability for a successful return to mainstream education.
With flexible, online provision, students have an opportunity to reset and re-engage with structured learning. Schools remain involved, while live relational teaching is used to help rebuild confidence and positive relationships with education.
A learner might initially access lessons from home, then begin attending some online lessons from the school site before gradually increasing their participation in mainstream lessons. This phased approach allows each student to rebuild confidence at their own pace, which will ultimately result in a more successful long-term reintegration.
Choosing the right provision for a learner with ALN
There is no single model of support that will be appropriate for every child or young person with additional learning needs. For schools and ALNCos, the starting point remains the individual learner: their needs, the barriers they are experiencing, the provision identified for them and the outcomes that support is intended to achieve. The important question is whether the provision is appropriate, accessible and capable of helping the learner make meaningful progress.
With live teaching, small classes, flexible timetables, Welsh curriculum alignment, detailed reporting and additional academic and wellbeing support, Academy21 gives schools and local authorities in Wales another way to build that provision around the learner.
