Summary
New duties, which came into effect in September 2002, extended the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to cover every aspect of education. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 amended the Disability Discrimination Act Part 4 to prevent discrimination against disabled people in their access to education. Chapter 1 of the new Part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act sets out the requirements on those providing school education. The duties make it unlawful to discriminate, without justification, against disabled pupils and
prospective pupils, in all aspects of school life. The principle behind this legislation is that wherever possible disabled people should have the same opportunities as non-disabled people in their access to education.
This Code of Practice (Code) applies to all schools and local education authorities (LEA) in England and Wales, and to all schools and education authorities in Scotland (EA). It explains the new duties and it shows the responsible bodies how they might meet the duties that apply to them.