When a child or young person has an EHC plan, decisions about which education setting they will attend are made through the EHC plan process, not through the ordinary admissions process.  

When you can make a request for a school 

As your child is moving from primary to secondary school, your local authority (LA) must review and, where necessary, amend your child’s EHC plan.  

The LA must make sure the plan names the setting (or type of setting) they will attend following the transfer by the legal deadline of 15 February. Before this point though, if the LA proposes changes, it should send you a draft amended EHC plan first. You can then ask for the grammar school to be named in Section I. 

Check the type of school and make the request 

Most grammar schools in England are either maintained schools or Academies. You can check the type of school on the Department for Education’s  

If the grammar school is a maintained school or an Academy, it is one of the types of school you have the right to request under section 38(3)of the Children and Families Act 2014. 

Duty to consult 

Once you make your request, the LA must consult the school and consider its comments carefully. If the school is a type of school you have the right to request, the LA must name it in the final EHC plan unless it can show that one of the legal reasons for refusal applies. 

The three legal reasons the LA can refuse 

There are three legal reasons the LA can rely on to refuse your request:  

  1. the grammar school is unsuitable for your child’s age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs  

  1. your child’s attendance would be incompatible with the efficient education of other children, or  

  1. it would be an inefficient use of the LA’s resources.  

In a grammar school case, the LA may focus on suitability, for example by arguing that the entrance test result is relevant to your child’s ability or aptitude.  

The LA should not treat passing, or even sitting, the usual grammar school entrance test as an automatic requirement before the school can be named in an EHC plan. It should consider all relevant information, including other evidence such as school reports, assessment information, professional advice, attainment, progress with support and the impact of your child’s special educational needs or disability. 

What you can do if the LA still refuses to name the grammar school of your choice 

If the LA issues a final EHC plan naming a different school, or naming only a type of school, you can challenge this decision through mediation and/or an appeal to the SEND Tribunal. 

In summary

A grammar school entrance test result may be relevant, but it should not automatically decide whether the school can be named in an EHC plan. 

The LA must consider your request through the EHC plan process, consult the school and look at all relevant information about your child. If the LA refuses to name the grammar school, it must be able to show that one of the legal reasons for refusal applies and you can appeal this decision.