A pupil belongs on a school's SEND monitoring list when there is a specific, recorded question about a possible barrier to learning that needs time-limited evidence gathering and review.
The list is a local working tool. It is not a statutory SEN category, a diagnosis or a third school-census status. It must not become a waiting room that delays teaching, reasonable adjustments, safeguarding action or SEN Support.
This guide is for schools in England. It offers a decision record for the first full weeks of term, when a few unsettled days can produce plenty of signals and very little certainty.
Start with the question the list is meant to answer
A monitoring list should answer: which pupils need a bounded enquiry, what are we trying to understand, and when will we decide the next step?
It should not be a softer label for pupils whom staff find worrying, inconvenient or hard to place. Names without questions accumulate quickly. Evidence rarely follows them out of politeness.
The statutory test is different. Under section 20 of the Children and Families Act 2014, a child has SEN when a learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision.
The SEND Code of Practice describes that provision as different from or additional to what is normally available to pupils of the same age.
If the evidence supports that test, the school should record the decision and put SEN Support in place.
Use six fields, not a threshold score
A score can make uncertainty look tidier than it is. A short decision record gives the SENCo, teacher, pupil and family something they can inspect and correct.
1. The observed signal
Record what was seen, heard or measured, with a date and context. Use descriptions such as repeated difficulty starting independent writing or a marked change in morning attendance.
Avoid inferred labels. The Code says slow progress, low attainment, disruptive behaviour or withdrawal do not automatically mean a pupil has SEN. They can still justify careful assessment and prompt support.
2. The access and teaching check
Record what the pupil was expected to access, the ordinarily available teaching or support, any reasonable adjustment, and whether it happened consistently enough to interpret the response.
High-quality teaching is the first response to pupils who have or may have SEN. It is also possible for a disabled pupil to need a reasonable adjustment without meeting the SEN test.
3. The pupil and family account
Record the pupil's view, the family's concern and any disagreement. Ask what helps, what is difficult, where the pattern changes and what the record may have missed.
The Code expects schools to listen to pupils and parents and to include an early discussion when considering special educational provision. A blank voice field is missing evidence, not quiet agreement.
4. The pattern across contexts
Compare classroom observation with progress, attendance, behaviour, health, communication history and prior support where each is relevant and lawfully available.
Look for variation as well as repetition. A pupil who finds one lesson inaccessible but participates confidently elsewhere gives the team a sharper question than a whole-school label.
5. The working question and immediate response
Write one question the next evidence will help answer. Then record what staff will do now. Schools should not delay extra teaching or other rigorous support while gathering evidence.
A suitable question might be: does a visual model and reduced copying demand improve access to the same curriculum task across English and science?
6. The owner, review date and decision
Name the responsible teacher, the SENCo's role, a near review date and the evidence to bring back. The outcome should be one of three plain decisions.
- Continue a short, revised enquiry because the question is still live and the missing evidence is identified.
- Record SEN and begin or revise SEN Support because special educational provision is called for.
- Close the SEND enquiry and use the appropriate teaching, attendance, health, pastoral, disability or safeguarding route.
Closing a SEND enquiry must not close another duty. A reasonable adjustment or safeguarding response does not depend on a pupil being placed on SEN Support.
Walk one early-term signal through the record
The following details are combined to illustrate the decision. They are not a pupil record or customer story.
A pupil has three difficult mornings during the first week. Staff record late arrival, refusal to enter one busy corridor and little written work in the first lesson.
A monitoring flag is reasonable because there is a specific question and several evidence gaps.
Attendance shows the pupil arrives on time on two quieter mornings. Behaviour records show no comparable difficulty later in the day.
The pupil describes noise and uncertainty about the changed room; the family reports a disrupted transport routine.
The school agrees a quieter entrance, a predictable first-task card and a ten-school-day review. The class teacher records access and work started.
The SENCo reviews whether the pattern persists across contexts and whether different or additional provision is called for.
The connected evidence changes the question. It does not prove why the mornings were hard, rule out SEN or establish that one adjustment caused improvement.
Know when monitoring has become delay
A pupil should not remain on the list because the review meeting moved, a specialist report has not arrived or the school wants a longer baseline. External assessment is not required before a school records SEN Support.
Move to a decision when evidence shows that the pupil's learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision. Parents must be formally informed when the school records that provision.
Section 66 of the Children and Families Act requires relevant schools to use their best endeavours to secure the special educational provision called for by a pupil's SEN. A local monitoring label cannot suspend that duty.
Review sooner if the pupil's access worsens, new information changes the risk picture or urgent action is needed. Use the school's safeguarding procedures immediately whenever a concern may involve harm.
Keep local monitoring separate from census status
The 2026 to 2027 school census collects pupil SEN provision as E for an EHC plan or K for SEN Support. A school's monitoring list is not another census code.
Keep the local flag, the recorded SEN decision and the MIS code distinct. This protects the history of the enquiry and makes reconciliation possible without presenting uncertainty as a statutory status.
Use the separate guides for a SEND status reconciliation or a whole-register audit.
How Student Radar supports the review
Student Radar's Heatmap can surface a pupil or cohort signal and open the evidence behind it. The colour or score remains a prompt for professional enquiry.
The SEND Register brings the monitoring list, recorded stages, need profiles, plan gaps and review dates into one school-scoped view.
Linked attendance, behaviour and SEND records reduce the need to reconstruct the question from separate exports. They cannot diagnose need, decide SEN Support or replace pupil, family, teacher and SENCo judgement.
Run the first review with four questions
- What changed, and what evidence is still missing?
- Did the agreed teaching, support or adjustment happen as intended?
- Does the evidence now call for special educational provision?
- Who owns the next action, and when will it be reviewed?
If the record cannot answer those questions, improve the record before extending the list. To see how the monitoring and SEND views connect, request a focused SEND walkthrough.
Sources and further reading
- SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years, Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care, January 2015; publication page updated 12 September 2024.
- Children and Families Act 2014, section 20, UK Parliament, 2014.
- Children and Families Act 2014, section 66, UK Parliament, 2014.
- SEND: guide for schools and alternative provision settings, Department for Education, 1 September 2014.
- Complete the school census: data items 2026 to 2027, Department for Education, checked 7 September 2026.
- Help if you have a disabled child: education, GOV.UK, checked 7 September 2026.