ABSTRACT
In Britain the provision of educational opportunities for students with special needs in further education has had a different and a much more history than provision for the same groups of young people at school. Special education in schools has a long history which can be traced back into the nineteenth century, with some significant landmarks along the way where attention has been focused upon the need to develop further that provision. The post-Warnock period saw a general increase in Local Education Authority provision for young people with special needs in further education colleges. In June 1984, the Advisory Committee on the Supply and Education of Teachers produced a report on teacher training and special educational needs. The findings of the working group were published in 1987 under the title 'A "Special" Professionalism'. Staff training opportunity for school-based special needs staff has tended to follow traditional patterns and has much of the 'professional' model about it, being largely 'course-based'.
