# Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018, Section 51: Duty to favour education for children at mainstream maintained schools

Extent: E+W

(1) A local authority exercising functions under this Part in relation to a child of compulsory school age with additional learning needs who should be educated in a school must secure that the child is educated in a mainstream maintained school unless any of the circumstances in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (2) apply.
(2) The circumstances are—
(a) that educating the child in a mainstream maintained school is incompatible with the provision of efficient education for other children;
(b) that educating the child otherwise than in a mainstream maintained school is appropriate in the best interests of the child and compatible with the provision of efficient education for other children;
(c) that the child's parent wishes the child to be educated otherwise than in a mainstream maintained school.
(3) A local authority may not rely on the exception in subsection (2)(a) unless there are no reasonable steps the authority could take to prevent the incompatibility.
(4) Where a child's parent wishes his or her child to be educated otherwise than in a mainstream maintained school, subsection (2)(c) does not require a local authority to secure that the child is educated otherwise than in a mainstream maintained school.
(5) Subsection (1) does not prevent a child from being educated in—
(a) an independent school, or
(b) a school approved under section 342 of the Education Act 1996 (c. 56),
if the cost is met otherwise than by a local authority.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2018/2/section/51 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/additional-learning-needs-and-education-tribunal-wales-act-2018/section-51
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.