Take the concern seriously: arrange an early discussion with the parents, assess need and put SEN support in place now (no diagnosis required), and support a GP or autism-team referral with your classroom observations.
Start with a structured early discussion
When a parent tells you they think their child is autistic, your first job is to listen and write it down. The SEND Code of Practice 2015 is clear that schools should take any concern a parent raises seriously, record it, and compare it with the setting's own assessment (para 6.45). Arrange an early discussion with the parents and, where appropriate, the child (para 6.39). Agree what you have each noticed, write a short note of the meeting, give the parents a copy, and tell them about the council's SEND Information, Advice and Support Service. The tone matters: you are not confirming or ruling out autism, you are agreeing that something needs a closer look.
Assess need and put support in place now
Do not wait for a diagnosis before you act, and never tell a parent to come back once they have one. A child has SEN where a learning difficulty or disability calls for provision that is different from or additional to the norm. The trigger is identified need, not a label (Code para 6.15). That means you can open SEN support straight away, working through the graduated approach of Assess, Plan, Do, Review. Where you decide a child has SEN and you are making special educational provision, you must formally tell the parents (Code paras 6.43 and 6.48). You should also consider whether the child may have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 and what reasonable adjustments might be needed (Code para 6.16).
Support the health referral, do not gatekeep it
A diagnosis is a health decision, not a school one, so your role is to feed the referral rather than block or replace it. The NHS says a GP can refer a child to a local autism team, that a school may need to make the referral in some areas, and that for a younger child a health visitor may refer. Who holds the pen varies by area, so check your local pathway. Whoever refers, NICE expects each area to have one clear point of referral and the assessment to start within three months. Your contribution is a written summary of what you see across settings:
- Specific, dated observations of communication, play, and how the child copes with change or sensory input.
- What SEN support you have already put in place and how the child responded to it.
- The parents' views, with their consent to share the information with the autism team.
Keep parents informed and review
Tell parents what you are doing and what difference it is making. The National Autistic Society is clear that schools meet need through the graduated approach whatever the diagnosis status, that parents should always be consulted, and that the class teacher stays responsible for the child's daily progress. A reform note for the diary: the 2026 Schools White Paper and Education for All Bill propose an Individual Support Plan duty for every child with SEND, but that is direction of travel only, with nothing changing before 2030. Today's SEN support duties stand.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.