Legislative Definitions around Learners’ Needs: A snapshot of European country approaches

The Legislative Definitions around Learners Vulnerable to Exclusion activity focused on collecting and analysing information on legal definitions or descriptions used in Agency member countries. There was a specific focus on legislative definitions around all learners vulnerable to exclusion in education systems. However, the activity also collected evidence on definitions or descriptions relating to learners with special needs, anti-discrimination legislation, legislation for inclusive education, and intersectionality.

This report presents the activity’s results. It introduces developments in the thinking around learners’ needs as the background and rationale for this activity. It then sets out the steps taken in the activity’s analysis and presents how countries identify and label groups of learners. Finally, it discusses possible developments in the thinking that guides legislation around learners’ needs and what these may indicate in terms of an underlying approach to inclusive education systems in Agency member countries.