SEND and ALS management software for post-16 providers: tracking the support learners need

If you are looking for SEND management software or SEND and ALS software for a college or other post-16 provider, it helps to be clear first about whose work the software supports. Inclusion Studio supports the provider’s work: hearing what helps, agreeing support with the learner, recording what was delivered and reviewing whether it worked. It is not local authority EHCP casework software. This page explains what that means, how support set out in an EHC plan fits, and what is in development for the pilot.

What is SEND management software for a post-16 provider?

SEND and ALS software for a post-16 provider is a tool for recording and tracking the support learners need, from the first request to the review. It covers learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), learners receiving additional learning support and disabled learners who need reasonable adjustments. In Inclusion Studio the same journey applies to all of them: Understand, Agree, Deliver, Review.

The point is not to sort learners into funding categories. It is to make sure that what was agreed actually happens, that missed support is put right, and that you can show it.

Is Inclusion Studio EHCP management software?

No, not in the sense most people mean. Local authorities run EHC needs assessments, issue and amend EHC plans and manage the statutory annual review process. Inclusion Studio does none of that, and it does not replace the council’s systems or your correspondence with them.

What it does is help the college or provider with its own part. Section F of an EHC plan sets out the special educational provision the young person requires, under regulation 12 of the SEND Regulations 2014. Under section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014, the local authority that maintains the plan must secure that provision. In practice much of it is delivered by the college named in the plan, and the college needs a working record of what it is doing. Separately, section 66 requires the governing body of a further education institution to use its best endeavours to secure the special educational provision a learner’s needs call for, whether or not they have a plan.

So a college might use Inclusion Studio to turn section F into specific actions, each with an owner, record delivery week by week, and bring that record to the annual review. Our guides to EHCPs in further education and EHCP annual reviews post-16 explain the duties in detail.

How does a provider record and track SEND support, step by step?

1. Understand. A support request or transition information arrives. Staff hear what helps in the learner’s own words through learner voice, and triage decides the next step.
2. Agree. A support plan is written with the learner. Where there is an EHC plan, the relevant section F provision can be reflected as actions with named owners. Anything the learner disagrees with is recorded, not hidden.
3. Deliver. Tutors, assessors and support staff record support delivered and support missed through delivery tracking, and how missed support is put right through missed support recovery.
4. Review. The learner is asked whether it helped, and support is kept, changed or stopped at a review. A controlled evidence export can be produced when someone needs to see the record.

How does this help with high needs and ALS evidence?

It helps you keep the record that funding conversations rely on, without calculating or claiming anything for you. For learners with high needs, the high needs funding operational guide describes core funding plus top-up funding paid by the resident local authority. It says local authorities should confirm top-up amounts in writing and that schools and colleges should be transparent about their costs. A clear record of agreed and delivered provision makes those conversations easier.

For apprentices, current guidance published by the Department for Work and Pensions says that providers claiming learning support funding must keep an evidence pack, including the assessment, the reasons for adjustments, a learner-agreed plan and evidence of the adjustments made. Inclusion Studio is designed to hold the plan, delivery and review parts of that trail. See high needs funding in FE and learning support funding for apprenticeships, and always check the current rules for the funding year.

Who sees what?

Permissions are enforced on the server by organisation, relationship and field. Inclusion leads and ALS managers see the learners they are responsible for. Tutors see the adjustments and actions for learners they teach. Learners see their own plan. An apprenticeship employer contact sees only the workplace adjustments and their own actions, never the learner’s EHC plan or full history. See permissions and roles.

EHC plans and support records often include health and disability information, which is special category data. Uploaded documents such as an EHC plan go to private storage and are released only to authorised people. Real learner data will not be used until the provider’s DPIA and our own checks are complete.

What is in the prototype today, and what is being built?

The clickable prototype shows the support journey with five fictional learners, including a plan view and a review form. It has no EHC plan import and no funding features. The production application, in development with synthetic data only, is being built to hold plans, delivery records, reviews and documents with server-side permissions. There is no integration with local authority systems, and we do not claim one.

Who is this for?

Inclusion leads, ALS managers and SENCOs in FE colleges, sixth form colleges, specialist post-16 institutions (see specialist post-16 institution), adult community learning services and apprenticeship providers. The pilot starts with FE colleges and apprenticeship providers in England. See inclusion leads for the full role view.

What does this look like in practice? (fictional example)

This is a fictional example. A learner joins a college with an EHC plan. Section F includes weekly small-group literacy support and a quiet space for assessments. The inclusion lead adds both to the learner’s support plan as actions with owners, after checking with the learner how they want the quiet space arranged. Two literacy sessions are recorded as delivered, and one is missed because the support worker is off. The recovery session is booked for the following week. Before the annual review, the inclusion lead exports the delivery record and the learner’s own comments, which helps the review focus on progress towards outcomes rather than on rebuilding what happened.

Related guides and next steps

Read the SEND Code of Practice for post-16 providers, school to college transition and preparing for adulthood outcomes. To write down how your organisation does this, start from the learning support policy template. If you would like to help shape the pilot, see the pilot page. For short definitions of the terms on this page, see the glossary.