Since the introduction of the Children and Families Act 2014, Statements of special educational needs (“SEN”) have been gradually replaced by Education, Health and Care (“EHC”) plans.
Children and young people who had Statements have been going through a process referred to as ‘transition’, in which they are being moved over to EHC plans. For this to happen the local authority (“LA”) must carry out an EHC needs assessment, which involves obtaining advice and information from a range of professionals. The process should take 20 weeks maximum. Further detail about this process can be found in IPSEA's Transition Timeline resource.
All LAs are meant to have completed this process for children with statements living in their area by 1 April 2018. This means that all transitions should already have begun.
The legal position of those who still have Statements after the transition deadline of 1 April 2018 will varyRead more
Model letter and guidance on complaining about failures relating to transitionRead more
FAQs based on questions that are frequently asked on IPSEA's helplinesRead more
If your child has special educational needs (SEN) under the EA 1996, they will still have SEN under the CAFA 2014Read more
If a child or young person still has a Statement and they are not in further education and are aged under 19, the law as it was before the CAFA 2014 will still applyRead more
FAQs which IPSEA has developed in relation to the previous law (the Education Act 1996)Read more