If you want a place in a mainstream setting for your child or young person with special educational needs (SEN) this should not be refused on the basis that mainstream is unsuitable, or that the SEN or disabilities are too great or complex.

Inclusive education is one of the principles stated to underpin the SEN and Disability Code of Practice (the Code).

Whatever the law says, some parents meet mainstream schools that are unwelcoming and attempt to steer them away from applying for admission. The Code says (paragraph 1.27): 

“The School Admissions Code of Practice requires children and young people with SEN to be treated fairly. Admissions authorities:

• must consider applications from parents of children who have SEN but do not have an EHC plan on the basis of the school’s published admissions criteria as part of normal admissions procedures
• must not refuse to admit a child who has SEN but does not have an EHC plan because they do not feel able to cater for those needs
• must not refuse to admit a child on the grounds that they do not have an EHC plan.”

Children and young people without EHC plans 

Children and young people without education, health and care (EHC) plans must be educated in a mainstream school (please see our page  on different types of schools for definitions of these terms). This is set out in section 34(2) of the Children and Families Act (CFA) 2014.

There are only a few exceptions to this.

Their parents or carers could choose to pay for them to attend an independent school, or decide to home educate them, for example.

A local authority (LA) must not place a child or young person without an EHC plan in a special school or institution except in very limited circumstances. Those exceptions nearly all require (amongst other things) the prior consent of children’s parents or of young people themselves. 

Children and young people with EHC plans 

If your child or young person has an EHC plan and you want them to attend a mainstream setting, your LA can only refuse if both of these two conditions are met:

1. a mainstream placement would be incompatible with the efficient education of others, and 
2. there are no reasonable steps the LA could take to avoid this (this is set out in section 33 CFA 2014).

The degree or complexity of the special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities, and the suitability of mainstream, is not a reason in law for refusal of a mainstream education.

This applies not just to attending a mainstream school or college but also to taking mainstream courses. 

This is an important right. Your LA cannot send your child or young person to a special school if this is not what you want. This is true even if the LA’s view is supported by professionals.

It is important to note, however, that this is a right to mainstream education but not necessarily a right to a particular mainstream school. You can find out more about your right to request a particular school on our pages about choosing a school/college with an EHC plan.

Incompatibility with the efficient education of others

In relation to the first condition, the Code says that “the term ‘others’ means the children or young people with whom the child or young person with an EHC plan would be likely to come into contact on a regular day-to-day basis.

Therefore, to insist on a special school placement your LA would need to show that the attendance of your child or young person in a mainstream setting or on a mainstream course would mean the education of those children (for example, their classmates) would be less than efficient, and how this is the case.

Case law shows that this is a high hurdle and it requires compelling evidence to back any such claim. It will not be enough for your LA to simply that that this is the case, it will need to show it with evidence. Your LA will also need to say which other children will be so affected.

Case law has also shown the word ‘efficient’ in this context to mean not the very highest desirable standard of education, or the very basic minimum, but something in between. This means that if your LA argued the other children would not receive the ‘best possible education’, this would not be enough for it to rely on this condition.

Reasonable steps

If you want a mainstream education and your LA can show that your child or young person’s presence would be incompatible with the efficient education of others, then your LA cannot insist on special schooling unless it can also show that the second condition has been met - there are no ‘reasonable steps’ it can take to remove the incompatibility.

The Code lists examples of reasonable steps at paragraphs 9.91 to 9.94. The Code concludes this section by advising:

“A decision not to educate a child or young person in a mainstream setting against the wishes of the child’s parent or the young person should not be taken lightly.”

If you find you are faced with such a decision, you should make sure that your LA has:

• identified, with concrete facts, what it is about your child or young person’s presence that would prevent the efficient education of others, and
• identified the ‘others’ whose education would be rendered inefficient, and
• considered all possible reasonable steps which might remove the problem.

Any argument like ‘the child’s difficulties are too extreme for a mainstream school’ will not succeed if you decide to appeal the naming of a special school (or naming of the type of education as special) in section I of an EHC plan in the SEND Tribunal in favour of a mainstream education. The SEND Tribunal will understand that your child or young person’s right to a mainstream education can only be removed if these two conditions are met, and will look to see what evidence the LA submits to support its case. If the LA cannot show that both these conditions are met, the right to a mainstream education will remain in place.

The Code suggests that only extreme and/or persistent behavioural difficulties may produce an incompatibility that is not curable by reasonable steps. The Code says this may be met:

“where the child or young person’s behaviour systematically, persistently or significantly threatens the safety and/or impedes the learning of others” (paragraph 9.93).

Once a school or college is named on an EHC plan, it must admit that child or young person. This is set out in section 43 CFA 2014.

The courts have considered the right to a mainstream education and have concluded that it is very difficult for an LA to deny a child or young person a mainstream place when that is what they or their parents want. You can find past cases about this on our case law pages.

You can find more information on our pages about choosing a school when you have an EHC plan, objecting to an LA’s proposed amendments to an EHC plan, and appealing to the SEND Tribunal.

For more information about duties on mainstream settings to make sure that children and young people with SEN are properly supported and included in the same way as children or young people without SEN, please see our page on how your nursery, school or college should help.