Make sure you know what the law says about naming schools in EHC plans, in case the local authority (LA) has misunderstood it and so you know what your options are. For example, the LA might be able to name a school you would like your child to go to, even though the school has said it couldn’t take them. 

Your LA has to send you the final EHC plan within 20 weeks of you or your child's school asking for the EHC needs assessment. If there isn’t a school the LA can name in your child’s EHC plan by then, the LA can say what type of school it thinks will be appropriate for your child to go to: For example, section I of their final EHC plan could say “mainstream primary school” or “special primary school” rather than the name of a specific school. 

Whilst the LA can finalise the EHC plan in this way, it should continue to try to find a specific school. The LA must make sure your child gets a suitable, full time education and all of the special educational provision in section F of their final EHC plan too. 

Once an appropriate school is found, the LA must add its name to section I of the EHC plan. 

There’s a legal process the LA must follow when it changes an EHC plan. It must send you the changes it wants to make and give you at least 15 days to reply to:

  • tell the LA any changes you want to see in the EHC plan,
  • ask for a specific school/setting you want your child to go to (or say you agree with the one the LA has found), and
  • ask for a meeting with the LA if you want one.

If the LA says it uses a different process, you can tell it this is the legal one that it has to follow because of regulation 28 of The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014.