What is
additional
support
for learning?
Everyone needs support to learn.
However, sometimes you might need more or different support than other people in your class.
This is called additional support for learning.
Additional support for learning is often called ASL for short.
It’s when you get extra help to take part in school or get the most from your education.
The support you get may be all the way through school, or only for a short time and there are lots of reasons why you might get extra help. It may look different to the support other pupils get but the important thing is that it works for you.
What are additional support needs?
You may also have heard of additional support needs, or ASN for short.
An additional support need can be anything that means you need additional support with your learning.
There is no set list of what additional support needs are – it can be anything that means you need some extra help!
But to help get an idea of the wide range of additional support needs, we’ve listed some examples below:
These are just some of the reasons why you might need some extra support with your learning but there are other things that we haven’t included.
If you think you might need some support but don’t know where to start, take a look at our advice section.
Want to find out more about different additional support needs?
Then check out our All About ASL series 🙂
The All About ASL series gives an insight into different additional support needs. We cover what they are, how they can affect your learning and what support is available.
top 5 things to know
- There is no limit to the amount or type of additional support needs. You can experience more than one additional support need at any time.
- You don’t need to have a diagnosis of any kind to get some extra support for your learning.
- If you have a disability or medical diagnosis, you don’t necessarily need support with your learning.
- Your support should always be something that works for you as an individual. What works for others may not work for you.
- You should be involved in decisions made about your support and your support should be reviewed regularly to help make sure it’s working.
Find out more…
Advice if you are someone who accesses extra support but feel unsure about other people knowing.
Read about the different ways your school can support your learning.
Neuropoint share their advice about neurodiversity and learning. Read their top 5 tips about getting support at school.