We're appealing against the school named in our child’s EHC plan and we’ve been told our child must attend the school that’s named in the plan in the meantime. Is that correct? We want him to stay at his current school until the outcome of the appeal Expand If parents want their child to stay at their existing school pending the outcome of an appeal, this can sometimes be negotiated, however, there is no obligation on the local authority (LA) or school to accommodate this kind of arrangement. A child’s name is removed from a school roll when an EHC plan is issued naming another school. When this happens the previous school will not have a duty to admit the child (in other words, let them go there) and the LA will not be required to secure provision at that school. This is because regulation 8(1)(b) of The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (the Registration Regulations) states that a pupil’s name can be removed from a school’s admission register when they have been registered as a pupil at another school (unless it is agreed that the pupil should be registered at more than one school). Parents often query whether their child’s name can be added to a school roll without their agreement or without the child having joined the school. It can be. This is because all “pupils” must be on the school’s admission register and Regulation 5(3) of the Registration Regulations says a child counts as a pupil “from the beginning of the first day on which the school has agreed, or has been notified, that the pupil will attend the school.” In the case of a child with an EHC plan, IPSEA’s view is that this would be the point at which the LA issues a plan naming the school. Unfortunately, none of this is affected by a parent appealing to the SEND Tribunal about an EHC plan. If the LA and the child’s previous school (or another school that hasn’t been named in their plan) won’t agree to the child going there during an appeal, the LA will be entitled to expect that the child attends the school named in their EHC plan. They could even take action against the parent if the child does not attend. The only option open to parents in this situation is to inform the LA and the school named in the plan that they are going to temporarily make arrangements for their child’s education at home and request that their child’s name is removed from the school roll pending the outcome of the appeal. If the school named in the plan is a special school, you will need to get the LA's agreement to this. If a parent decides to do this they should make sure the LA is clear that they are only saying they will home educate during the appeal. Some parents will do this to avoid the possibility of the child having to move school multiple times in a short period e.g. from their previous school, to the school in the EHC plan they are appealing then, if the appeal is successful, again to another school. Choosing to home educate, even temporarily, is a big decision, see important information about it here. Please note: If at any point the LA says it will send you an Attendance Order, or your receive one, you should check if you qualify for legal aid and speak to a criminal solicitor who is familiar with education cases.
If the SEND Tribunal orders a school be named in an EHC plan, can that setting refuse to admit my child? Expand For most types of schools or institutions, if they are named in an EHC plan they have a legal duty to admit your child or young person under section 43 Children and Families Act 2014. This duty applies to: a maintained school or nursery (mainstream or special) an Academy (mainstream or special) an institution in the Further Education sector a non-maintained special school, and a section 41 school. The only time a setting does not have a legal duty to admit your child or young person is if the school is an independent one. The SEND Tribunal cannot order an independent setting to be named without an offer of a place from the school.
Can the SEND Tribunal order a school to be named even if the school hasn’t agreed to being named? Expand This depends on the type of setting. The SEND Tribunal has no power to name a wholly independent school against its wishes because there is no duty in the Children and Families Act 2014 on such schools to admit a child or young person where they are named in section I of an EHC plan. If you want to ask for an independent setting to be named in an EHC plan, you will need the setting to have offered a place and you will need to send this consent or offer of a place with your appeal form. If you are asking for: a maintained school or nursery (mainstream or special) an Academy (mainstream or special) an institution in the Further Education sector a non-maintained special school, or a section 41 school, then proof of consent to be named or an offer of a place is not required, but you will have to tell the school that you are asking the SEND Tribunal to name it, and submit that notification letter or email to the SEND Tribunal with your appeal paperwork.
My local authority has named a school I don’t agree with and I want to appeal section I of my child’s EHC plan. What does a local authority have to consider when naming a school in an EHC plan? Expand You have the conditional right to ask that: a maintained school or nursery (mainstream or special) an Academy (mainstream or special) an institution in the Further Education sector a non-maintained special school, or a section 41 school, is named in your child’s EHC plan. Your local authority (LA) can only refuse this request if there is a lawful reason to do so. These reasons are: the setting is unsuitable for the age, aptitude, ability or special educational needs of your child, or your child’s attendance there would be incompatible with the: efficient education of others, or efficient use of resources. You can learn more about these reasons on our choosing a school/ college pages, and find these reasons in section 39(4) of the Children and Families Act 2014. In an appeal, if the LA says it has not, and will not, name the setting you requested for one of these reasons, you should use evidence to show the LA and SEND Tribunal why the reason does not apply. If your LA decides that one of these reasons applies, then it must name an appropriate setting and type, or simply an appropriate type of setting, in the EHC plan. This is a legal requirement found in section 39(5) of the Children and Families Act 2014. Therefore if you wish to appeal the naming of the LA’s choice of school, you will want to show with evidence why that setting or the type is not appropriate for your child. When challenging the LA's choice of school, your arguments should not focus on whether attendance at the LA's choice would be an inefficient use of resources or education of others for example because the above reasons do not apply to the LA's choice. You will want to demonstrate why that setting is not appropriate, for example by highlighting evidence from its prospectus and SEN information report that show that it would not be an appropriate setting, and why. This means, in this type of appeal you may be making two arguments: that your choice of setting should be named in the EHC plan because no lawful reason for refusing it applies and the LA's choice of setting is inappropriate anyway. If the school or college you would like named is wholly independent (in other words, its not one of the types in listed above), please see our information on asking for an independent nursery school or college. For more information on appeals about the school or other setting named in an EHC plan, see our downloadable fact sheet.
I want to appeal section I (placement) of my child’s EHC plan but I have not yet found a particular school that I want to ask be named. What should I do? Expand In any case where the appeal concerns section I, you should include relevant information about the school or institution you want to be named with the appeal. This should include the Ofsted report, any prospectus, any reports or assessments about your child which the school or other institution has produced, and details of the costs of the placement. If you want your appeal to include section I (placement) but have not found a school you want to ask the SEND Tribunal to name, then describe the type of setting you would prefer in section I on your appeal form, such as ‘mainstream’ or ‘special’. You can say you are currently researching options or waiting for responses from settings. The SEND Tribunal, when it registers your case, will probably direct you to provide details of the specific institution that you wish the SEND Tribunal to name by a particular date. If you find a specific setting you would like named which matches the type of setting you described on the appeal form, you don’t need to amend your grounds of appeal. You should: tell the LA and SEND Tribunal of this via email, and enclose the offer of a place if it’s a wholly independent school, and check the directions in case the SEND Tribunal imposed a deadline for doing so and for what other information about the school you are required to submit. If you find a particular setting which is a different type to that described on the appeal form, for example in the description box you indicated you wanted mainstream and are now seeking a special school, a Request for Changes form (SEND7) asking to amend the grounds of appeal will be required.