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SEND information, advice and support service

What is the SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS)?

We are a statutory service supporting parents/carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and children and young people with SEND.

What do we do?

We provide free and impartial information, advice and support about special educational needs and disability (SEND) for:

  • children and young people
  • parents and carers
  • professionals and practitioners

Who can use SENDIASS?

Young people aged 16 to 25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can access our service independently. This ensures your own views are shared. We can help you understand education processes and take an active role in decisions about your future.

Parents and carers with parental responsibility can use SENDIASS to understand their own rights and the rights of their child or young person with SEND. We provide information, advice and practical support to help families understand policies and processes and ensure their views are heard.

Professionals can use our information, advice and support to develop their knowledge and understanding of SEND. They can also signpost and support parents, carers, children and young people to access SENDIASS services.

What can the service offer you?

We offer a wide range of support, including:

  • Offer impartial, confidential information, advice and support on issues relating to SEND. This can be by telephone, email or face to face.
  • Signpost to support groups and services in your area and national sources
  • Help to prepare for and support at meetings
  • Help to understand Education Health Care Needs Assessments and reviews.
  • Offer advice on support in education for children and young people with SEND who do not have an EHCP.
  • Advise on Local Offer, Personal budgets and SEND law.
  • Help with writing letters or filling in forms.
  • Help to develop and encourage good communication and positive relationships between education settings, the local authority and other agencies.
  • Help to achieve the best possible outcomes for children and young people and prepare them for adulthood.
  • Support at meetings and reviews about your child’s needs and help ensure your views and wishes are heard.

Contact us

We will respond to all enquiries within 5 working days.

Please use one contact method only when getting in touch with SENDIASS. Please do not use more than one method of contact. Using multiple contact methods may delay our response.

If you are already receiving support from SENDIASS, please do not ask another professional to follow up or request a response on your behalf. This helps us manage enquiries fairly and respond as soon as possible to everyone who uses our service.

More information 

Local Offer, SEN support and EHCP

Information on the the Local Offer, SEN support and the EHCP process can be viewed on the Livingwell website [external link].

The SEN process

We understand that not everyone feels the need to speak to us directly, and would prefer to find out as much as they can themselves about SEN and what it might mean for you or your child/family.

The following advice and guidance notes may help.

Statutory EHC needs assessment

You can request this assessment if you or the school still feel that your child is still not making enough progress as other children the same age.

EHC plans

Depending on the outcome of the assessment, you will first receive a draft, followed by a final EHC Plan. This will detail the extra help that your child will receive.

For more information on a statutory EHC needs assessment and EHC plans, visit the Education Health and Care Plans at Darlington Livingwell [external link].

Publications and reports

National benchmarking of SENDIASS in England has taken place annually since 2004.

Its purpose is to provide a range of data that should be useful to:

  • SEND IASS officers
  • SEND IASS steering and management groups
  • Local authority officers responsible for SEND IASS
  • all those with an interest in SEND IASS at national, regional and local level.

The national benchmarking summary 2025-26 [exernal link] gives a snapshot of the range of data that has been collected.  

If you have any comments please contact Darlington SEND IASS for more information.

SEND IASS information

SEND IASS factsheets

Information covering Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Information covering schools

Further information

Training for parents

Training events are publicised on our Facebook page.

Feedback from parents:

  • Thank you for all of your advice and support, it’s very much appreciated.
  • You have highlighted some very relevant points and helped us to better understand the process ... Thank you!
  • Thank you for your support and listening to me
  • Thank you for your email and for coming to the meeting. It felt much easier having your support and I think the outcomes of the meeting were much more positive.
  • Thank you so much I see your email and just wanted to say I appreciate you for this!!
  • Thank you for being there for us again.
  • Thanks for all your support with everything. It has been invaluable.
  • I just want to say a massive thank you for all your help and attending all our school meetings it's helped massively
  • Thank you so much for all your help! I really appreciate it.
  • Thank you so much for all your help and advice.
  • Otherwise, I can’t thank you enough for your help. I just wish we had been able to get you involved a long time ago! I do really appreciate everything you have done.

Website links

You can also visit the SEND IASS Facebook page [external link]

For details on other information, advice and support services in the North East, visit the IASS Network website [external link]

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