# 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.

## Worked example (a fictional plan)

**Fictional IEP, Ava, P5: short-term target.**

- **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."
- **Finding:** not measurable. It doesn't say where Ava is now, what will be different, how it will be measured, who supports her or by when, and there is no accessible version (Education Scotland IEP guidance, practice guidance, not statute).
- **Questions:** "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 (a draft for the meeting with Ava and her family):** "Ava will join a small-group game at break with up to two classmates, supported by [role], on [number] of 5 days a week by [review date], up from [days a week now]. Measured by [observation method], reviewed termly."
- **Accessible version:** "I will play a game with one or two friends at break, with [role] nearby."
- **Why the gaps:** 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 for staff and the family rather than invented.

## 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.

- Practice guidance (not statute): [Education Scotland, Guidance for Individual Educational Programmes: Practice and process for Individualised Educational Programmes](https://education.gov.scot/resources/additional-support-for-learning/guidance-for-individual-educational-programmes/practice-and-process-for-individualised-educational-programmes/). 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 statute): [Education Scotland, Guidance for Individual Educational Programmes: Practice and process for Individualised Educational Programmes](https://education.gov.scot/resources/additional-support-for-learning/guidance-for-individual-educational-programmes/practice-and-process-for-individualised-educational-programmes/). Short-term targets are reviewed at least termly, and long-term targets at least once a year.
- Practice guidance (not statute): [Education Scotland, Guidance for Individual Educational Programmes: About Individual Educational Programmes](https://education.gov.scot/resources/additional-support-for-learning/guidance-for-individual-educational-programmes/about-individual-educational-programmes/). 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 statute): [Education Scotland, Guidance for Individual Educational Programmes: Preparing an Individualised Educational Programme](https://education.gov.scot/resources/additional-support-for-learning/guidance-for-individual-educational-programmes/preparing-an-individualised-educational-programme/). 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.

## 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

- [Child's Plan review for schools in Scotland](https://sendix.ai/childs-plan-review.md)
- [How to write measurable IEP targets (Scotland)](https://sendix.ai/guides/how-to-write-measurable-iep-targets-scotland.md)
- [Writing Child's Plan actions that say who, what and by when](https://sendix.ai/guides/childs-plan-actions-who-what-by-when.md)
- [How pricing works](https://sendix.ai/pricing.md) (see the Scotland section)
- [Data protection answers for your DPO](https://sendix.ai/data-protection.md)

## Next step

Book a 30-minute walkthrough with Marcus Kamuntu, founder, on a fictional plan (no pupil data, nothing to sign): https://cal.com/sendix/30min