1:1 Support

The full-time 1:1 TA was the default Section F provision under the old Statement era. Tribunals and EPs increasingly question whether 1:1 is the right model, because the evidence (EEF, Russell-Brown et al., 2021) is that constant adult proximity reduces peer interaction, slows the development of independence, and produces velcro-effect dependency. The current best-practice model is "differentiated proximity": TA support deployed for the specific tasks where the child needs it, faded out where the child can do without.

In a Year 4 classroom with a child holding 25 hours of 1:1 Section F provision, the question is rarely "do we have the hours?". It is "how are we using the hours?" The strongest schools timetable the TA's hours into named intervention slots (Numicon for 30 minutes daily; SaLT-supervised vocabulary 3 times a week; in-class scaffolding for written tasks in literacy and humanities; explicit fading-out time in PE, free play, and assemblies). The weakest leave the TA sitting next to the child for every lesson and call it provision.

Where 1:1 is genuinely needed full-time (typically PMLD, complex medical or significant safety needs) Section F should specify, alongside hours, the staff training and the contingency plan. Where 1:1 is being used as a default rather than considered provision, an EP review of deployment often justifies a smarter model.