The second area of need in the SEND Code of Practice. It covers a wide range — specific learning difficulties (SpLD) such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia; moderate, severe or profound learning difficulties (MLD, SLD, PMLD); and learners whose academic progress is slower than peers’ for any reason, including missed schooling.
A learner in this area might find reading or written output difficult while thinking sharply about what they read; another might need more repetition for new material to stick; another might be capable of GCSE-level reasoning but not yet able to produce timed exam essays. The picture is rarely one shape.
How NEO is designed for learners in this area
- Modular Pearson Edexcel International GCSEs. The iGCSE specification we use lets learners build credit across multiple sittings rather than facing one high-stakes summer of exams. A young person who needs a slower runway gets one.
- Functional Skills as a parallel pathway. Pearson Edexcel Functional Skills English and Maths from Entry Level 1 to Level 2 are nationally recognised qualifications and a practical, accessible alternative or supplement to iGCSEs. Learners can sit Functional Skills first and move to iGCSE when ready, or hold them as the qualification of record.
- ASDAN as portfolio assessment. ASDAN Programmes and ASDAN Qualifications recognise progress through portfolios of evidence — useful for learners who think well but find timed assessment difficult, and for learners returning to education after a long absence.
- A Discovery Phase. For learners who aren’t yet ready for a full timetable or formal qualifications, named goals and measured progress with a clear route onto a qualification pathway when the time is right. Not a holding pattern — structured re-engagement.
- bksb diagnostic and revision platform. Adaptive online English and Maths content used both as a starting diagnostic and as ongoing revision. Learners see their own progress and gaps without it being mediated through a teacher report.
- Live teaching by qualified subject teachers. Quality of teaching is protected — practitioners co-ordinate the timetable, qualified teachers deliver the lessons. Specialist input is not diluted by the online format.
- Multimodal by default. Read-aloud, captions, recorded sessions for replay, and adjustable typography are native to the platform. No need to request access arrangements for the everyday experience of learning.
- A named practitioner co-ordinating pacing. When a learner is finding something hard, the practitioner can flex pace and sequence with the qualified teacher rather than the learner having to advocate for themselves session by session.
Where this shows up in the vault
- Pearson Edexcel International GCSEs — modular, with specifications spanning English, Maths, Human Biology, Art & Design at launch
- Pearson Edexcel Functional Skills — Entry 1 to Level 2 English and Maths
- ASDAN Programmes · ASDAN Short Courses · ASDAN Qualifications
- Life and Work — functional, employability, and independent-living strands as canonical curriculum in their own right
- bksb — adaptive Functional Skills platform
- Revision guides — awarding-body-aligned
What we don’t do
NEO is not an alternative to specialist provision for learners with profound or multiple learning disabilities. Where a learner’s primary need is PMLD, NEO is unlikely to be the right setting — the live online format assumes a level of independent engagement that PMLD provision typically supports differently. NEO will say so honestly at referral rather than after admission.