The Graduated Approach - a guide for professionals (HTML) - General Ordinarily Available Provision

Published: 11 February 2026

All: inclusive support

Under the Graduated Approach, all students receive inclusive support. This includes:

  • quality-first teaching with reasonable adjustments for all students
  • all staff having high expectations of students
  • promoting independence and self-care skills
  • a supportive learning environment that promotes positive relationships, active engagement and wellbeing
  • monitoring individual students’ progress through regular formative and summative assessment
  • training all adults in interpreting students’ behaviour as a means of communication
  • support coordinated by the key worker, class teacher or form tutor (staff)
  • the setting working in partnership with parent carers, meeting regularly to discuss progress and support (for example at parents’ evenings)

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Some: personalised support

Under the Graduated Approach, some students receive personalised support. This includes:

  • short-term group interventions for students with similar needs
  • observation and assessment to support understanding of individual students’ learning needs
  • planning and interventions starting from the student’s strengths, interests and what they can do
  • following a regular cycle of assess, plan, do, review (APDR) to ensure that students with SEND are making progress
  • monitoring students’ individual progress through a pupil passport, Individual Learning Plan (ILP) or SEND support plan which documents evidence of the APDR cycle
  • making sure students understand and can contribute to the targets they are working to achieve
  • coordinating support with the setting’s special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) and staff
  • providing personalised learning in small groups where students experience difficulties
  • making sure there is regular communication between the home and school to discuss progress and support at least three times per year (for example at ILP review meetings)

Few: highly personalised support

A few students will receive highly personalised support. This includes:

  • short-term individual provision to meet individual student’s needs
  • highly personalised provision that is tailored to individual needs which may involve 1:1 instruction or very small group work
  • support coordinated by the setting’s special educational needs coordinator (SENCO), working together with class, form or subject teachers and external professionals
  • partnership working with regular communication between the home and school to discuss progress and support at least three times per year
  • seeking the advice of external professionals where necessary