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Can I deregister child from school whilst awaiting an EOTAS package at tribunal?
Child has mainstream school named on EHCP. She is struggling attend due to high anxiety. We dont believe any school is appropriate currently and are hoping for EOTAS to be awarded. Can we deregister her from school whilst waiting for tribunal? Or would that make appeal at tribunal void and mean the LA would no longer be responsible for sourcing provision?
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If we register our child through the standard secondary school admission process, will their EHCP automatically cease?
Our adopted, Year 6, daughter has an EHCP with VI as the main need. We chose a secondary school for her with a specialist VI unit, in a different county. They can definitely meet needs but have yet to agree to the placement. If we went through the standard admissions, she would be given a place in our chosen school as she is a previously looked-after child. But we have been told by our Local Authority that if we do that, the EHCP will cease. Is that correct, would that be a legal move?
Cecile Laurent
17 Nov 2025
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If a Tribunal rules for SALT provision, would LA use a private SALT already commissioned?
I am currently mid EHCP tribunal appeal over the addition of SALT and OT provision to section F. During this time, we have been privately funding a SALT ourselves who met our child and wrote a good report which became the foundation for the appeal.
Since then, there have been a couple of issues between the SALT and the school that have caused a bit of friction. We didn’t think this was too much of a problem, and just required a bit of meeting in the middle for both parties. However, the SALT has informed us that she doesn’t feel that she is a good fit and is politely withdrawing. Considering how difficult it was to get a private SALT in the first place, I’m not confident that we would be able to get another or if we even should.
Now I believe that if we win the appeal and a SALT provision is added to the EHCP, the LA would be entirely responsible for providing the specialist?
If we had a private SALT on board, would the LA take our SALT on board (which would require us to find a new one before the end of the appeal), or would they have to either provide their own (ignoring ours), or provide a personal allowance to us to cover the continuation of the privately funded SALT (if we can find a new one)?
My expected outcome is that we win the appeal, the LA then would be required to provide a SALT for the school, but the LA will not have one to provide (even if we do). They will sit on the tribunal ruling while we write letters of complaint that they are not providing the tribunal-specified support. Is there a clause or an act I should refer to when writing to the LA when this inevitably happens? What do you do when the LA just ignore the Tribunal’s ruling on the provision, to who do you go to next?
Many thanks for all your help. -
Denied authorised absence, does it fall under equality act
My daughter has an EHCP detailing she is dyslexic & had ADHD. I take her to a registered charity specialising in teaching kids with dyslexia that I pay privately for. Last year the school authorised this under code b and now they are refusing to. Is there anything I can do or would this come under the equality act to make reasonable adjustments?
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Secondary school naming with appeal pending - Y5 transition timing
I have an appeal pending with a hearing in the first months of next year. We've just had our annual review and the school amended the EHCP but noted that there's an appeal ongoing.
They're saying we'll need another annual review after the appeal to name the secondary school. My child is in Y5, and they've warned the secondary could refuse him if they see the EHCP post-appeal.
I've heard it's better to request secondary placement earlier rather than waiting until June 2026. The secondary school SENCO confirmed they usually get requests much earlier than June.
Questions:
Should I request secondary placement now or wait until after the tribunal?
Can the LA delay naming a secondary school until the appeal's resolved?
Could requesting now affect my appeal?
Thanks for any advice! -
If a tribunal is open for an ehcp can I still carry out a phased transfer review of the ehcp
Parent went to tribunal over an EHC and a draft amended EHC is still being argued over. LA have asked for the original final EHC to be reviewed as per Phased transfer regulations. Mum has said it is not legal to do so if it is at tribunal
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Do i have to submit an annual review final EHCP to the tribunal during an appeals process?
We are currently midway through an appeals process with the LA over the addition of specialist provision to my child's EHCP. We are currently on working document version 5, and there have been numerous changes and additions to sections B & F agreed by both parties; however, the appeal continues as the LA will still not put the specialist provision into the EHCP.
The problem is we have also just had an annual review. The LA issued a draft, and then a final plan, with none of the changes currently agreed upon in the appeal. They changed a lot of section A, but otherwise, the final annual review EHCP is the same as the EHCP we are appealing from the previous year (i.e. the same as working document version 1).
Do I need to submit this new Final Annual Review EHCP to the tribunal (using the Send7 form as the IPSE website suggests), or can I just ignore it and carry on discussing the Working Document version 5 with the LA, as that is the most relevant document with all the changes agreed so far?
If the annual review final EHCP is included, it would be like taking the Working Document back to revision 1 and starting again, but I’m scared that once the appeal is finally done, they will use this new annual review final EHCP to overwrite my appealed EHCP and remove the provision I have spent a year trying to add. All the information on the internet only seems relevant if you want to add the annual review EHCP to the appeal, but in this case, I don’t. I just don’t want to give the LA another weapon against us.
Thank you for any help you can give. -
EHCP Challenges
Hello,
I've just joined the forum and would appreciate guidance on the legality of my child's situation and the best next steps to secure a suitable placement.
​Child Details:
​Age: 5 and in Year 1 (Key Stage 1) mainstream school.
​Needs: Complex ASD, significant anxiety, and acute sensory regulation needs documented by an Educational Psychologist (EP) and Occupational Therapist (OT).
​Academic: Academically able, working at or above age-related expectations (ARE) in core subjects.
AR just concluded request for specialist placement was rejected
My child's school is in another Borough.
​The Crisis: Unlawful Provision (Section 19 Breach)
​My child has been on a severely reduced, non-statutory timetable (part-time attendance) at their current mainstream school for over eight months due to their needs exceeding the school's capacity to keep them regulated and safe for a full day.
​The Local Authority (LA) recently claimed in a formal response that they were "unaware" of this reduced timetable prior to the recent Annual Review (AR).
​Crucially, this claim is refuted by their own file:
​A Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF), referenced the crisis meeting regarding the child's "provision/timetable.", the file was sent to the LA.
​The LA-commissioned EP Report, which was distributed by the LA caseworker as part of the AR pack, explicitly documented the part-time hours.
​The LA's failure to act on this known breach for months constitutes an ongoing failure to secure full-time suitable education (a breach of Section 19 of the Education Act 1996).
​Procedural Maladministration
​A comprehensive private Occupational Therapy (OT) Report detailing essential sensory and physical adaptions was submitted to the LA for the AR.
​This OT Report was omitted from the formal evidence presented to the decision-making panel when the EHCP amendments were decided.
​Questions and Strategic Concerns
​Legal Impact: Do the documented S19 breach (ongoing reduced timetable, effectively an exclusion without process) and the clear procedural error (omission of the OT Report) provide sufficient legal grounds to successfully argue at Tribunal that the current mainstream placement is unsuitable?
​Next Steps: I have formally escalated these issues to the Head of Children's Services, demanding an urgent re-paneling and a written action plan. What further legal steps (e.g., a threat of Judicial Review, specific naming of potential placements) should I take now?
​Future Suitability Dilemma: I need to find a placement that meets two essential requirements at Key Stage 1/2:
​Therapeutic Structure: Requires a small group setting (e.g., max 10 students) with a high adult-to-child ratio (e.g., 1:5) and guaranteed, non-conditional access to low-stimulus, therapeutic spaces (Specialist Provision).
​Academic Rigour: Must provide the full Key Stage 1/2 National Curriculum and be able to differentiate provision upwards to prevent academic stagnation and ensure he reaches his full potential, rather than being limited to a foundation curriculum.
​How can I ensure the Final EHCP (specifically Sections E, F, and I) is written to legally mandate a placement that provides this therapeutic structure without forcing integration into a failed mainstream setting, yet also guarantees the necessary academic pathway?
​Thank you in advance for any insights on navigating this critical stage. -
We were advised that our online school was EOTAS and left section I blank, we have a personal budget for school. Was this wrong?
We have had our EHCP for a year and are in the process of annual review. Might it be wise to add the virtual school to section I now?
Angie Lee-Foster
18 Apr 2025
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Can an inaccurate (or out of date) Section B & E be challenged at tribunal?
Support SEND Kids has been contacted by many parents who are frustrated that their child's EHCP contains inaccuracies or includes out of date behaviours. Despite requesting the EHCP be updated at review, the school and/or local authority ignore these requests and continue to submit inaccurate EHCPs to families. At the point of phase transfer (11+/16+) these inaccuracies, in Sections B & E, have a detrimental impact on which schools will consider the child. Can a tribunal insist that a local authority revise/re-draft an EHCP?
