Check IEP targets are measurable.
A guided IEP review for schools in Scotland. Sendix checks each target against Education Scotland’s IEP guidance, asks the questions that close each gap, and suggests measurable wording built only from what the plan already says. You decide.
On a fictional plan. No pupil data, and nothing to sign.
What does a review look like?
A fictional target, checked: what it’s missing, the questions that would close each gap, and wording built only from what the plan says.
Learner profile, as written
Ava finds unstructured break times hard and often stays near the door. She joins in when an adult sets up a game, and plays happily with one or two classmates she knows well.
Target, as written
Ava will develop her social skills.
What a measurable target says
- Missing: Where Ava is now (a starting point)
- Missing: What will be different for Ava
- Missing: How we’ll know it’s been achieved
- Missing: Who supports her, and how
- Missing: By when (reviewed at least termly)
- Missing: An accessible version for Ava
Practice guidance, not statuteEducation Scotland, IEP practice and process: outcomes should be measurable, with an accessible version for the learner. (opens the source in a new tab)
Questions that would close the gap
- What does Ava do at break now, and on how many days does she join a game?
- She joins in when an adult sets up a game. What would success at break look like?
- Who supports her at break, and how often?
- How will staff record it, and when is it next reviewed?
Suggested wording · built from the profile · you decide
Ava will join a small-group game at break with up to two classmates, supported by gap for your team: role, on gap for your team: number of 5 days a week by gap for your team: review date, up from gap for your team: days a week now. Measured by gap for your team: observation method, reviewed termly.
The small group and the two classmates come from the profile. The plan doesn’t say where Ava is now, who, how often, by when or how it’s measured, so those are left as gaps rather than invented.
Accessible version, for Ava
I will play a game with one or two friends at break, with gap for your team: role nearby.
What you take to the meeting with Ava and her family
Nothing yet. Decide on the suggestion and this fills in.
- IEPs aren’t statutory, so these flags rest on Education Scotland’s IEP guidance, not legal duties. Your own template stays yours.
What does the review check in each target?
Education Scotland’s guidance says a measurable target states what will be different or better for the learner and how you’ll know it has been achieved. Sendix checks each target for:
- A starting point
- Where the learner is now, so progress can be seen. This one is Sendix’s own check.
- What will be different
- What the learner will do that they can’t do now, not what staff will provide.
- How you’ll know
- How it will be measured, in numbers or in what the learner shows or tells you.
- Who supports it, and how
- Who is involved, what will be taught or adapted, and the learner’s and family’s part in it.
- By when
- A timescale it can realistically be reached in. Short-term targets are reviewed at least termly, long-term ones at least once a year.
- An accessible version
- A version suited to the learner’s age and stage, which they can refer to and use to evaluate their own progress.
What is the review based on?
IEPs aren’t statutory, so the review rests on Education Scotland’s guidance: practice guidance, not statute. Your own template stays yours.
A measurable target should state what is going to be different or better for the learner and how we will know it has been achieved; it should be realistically attainable in a specified timescale; there should be an accessible version for the learner.
Practice guidance, not statuteEducation Scotland, Guidance for Individual Educational Programmes: Practice and process for Individualised Educational Programmes (opens the source in a new tab)
Short-term targets are reviewed at least termly, and long-term targets at least once a year.
Practice guidance, not statuteEducation Scotland, Guidance for Individual Educational Programmes: Practice and process for Individualised Educational Programmes (opens the source in a new tab)
An IEP is a non-statutory document, and the child or young person and their family must be involved in developing it.
Practice guidance, not statuteEducation Scotland, Guidance for Individual Educational Programmes: About Individual Educational Programmes (opens the source in a new tab)
A Co-ordinated Support Plan is the only statutory education planning document; an IEP, standalone or within a Child’s Plan, is not a statutory educational plan.
Practice guidance, not statuteEducation Scotland, Guidance for Individual Educational Programmes: Preparing an Individualised Educational Programme (opens the source in a new tab)
What does the suggestion leave to you?
- The gaps
- Wording is built only from the plan. Anything it doesn’t give, such as who, how often, by when or how it’s measured, is a visible gap for your team, never an invented amount.
- The decision
- Use the suggestion as a draft, edit it or reject it. Nothing is decided for you.
- The conversation
- The wording is a draft for the meeting. The target is agreed with the learner and their family, in your own template.
Read next
Guides
- How to write measurable IEP targets (Scotland)
Education Scotland's IEP guidance says a measurable target states what will be different for the learner and how you will know. Here is what that means in practice, with rewritten examples and a checklist.
Scotland · Updated · 6 min read
- Writing Child's Plan actions that say who, what and by when
A Child's Plan action that does not name a person, a task and a date is hard to deliver and harder to review. Here is what the GIRFEC guidance asks for, what is statutory and what is not, and how to rewrite common actions.
Scotland · Updated · 6 min read