There SEND Code of Practice states:

A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. 

A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she: 

• has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or 

• has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions 

When the code of practice was rewritten the research conducted proved that identifying a child as SEND  led to unconscious lowering of expectations. The 2015 code of practice states that pupils should be placed on the register for the shortest time possible and removed once additional support has helped to increase progress. 

Pupils should only be placed on the SEND Register if they need The Graduated Approach. SENDCos may need to make careful decisions about how many pupils can be on the register, considering the academies resources to meet their needs. One possible way of doing this is to apply a 4 'pronged' test to help decide who has SEND. 

Ask the following questions:

• Does the child have an identified need? (Not just a diagnosis)

• Are they academically behind? (Consider socially and emotionally behind too dependent on your cohort)

• Do they need 'additional to and different from' provision?

• Have they failed to make progress despite class based intervention and support?

If the pupils meet the majority of the questions they could be placed on the SEND Register. 

It's also worthwhile giving consideration to other factors such as JCQ Regulations for example,  if pupils score Standardised Scores of 84 or below on SEND assessments they may qualify for exam access arrangements and therefore it may be appropriate that they sit on the SEND Register to ensure normal way of working and history of need. 

Consideration can also be given to cohorts of pupils whose needs can be met without being identified as SEND. For example, if there is a whole school reading approach that is effective, pupils behind in just reading may not need to be placed on the register.