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
Daughter has an EHCP and attends a speech and language specialist school and college currently in year 11. The college provision (for the following year onwards) is a poor fit for her and her ambition so I’m looking at alternative performing arts college courses. A private school near me offers an intensive one year foundation course in musical theatre and I think this would really benefit her. Will I lose the EHCP or is there a way we could retain it and continue using the EHCP to provide her with a college place after that one year?
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.
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.
The school are saying that this is a big ask and that it won’t be possible.
What support can I access to assist my son, who has been having behaviour issues that have been increasing for 6 weeks? He has been vocally matching other children in the class (it is important to add that my son is verbal, and the other children are non-verbal, as in they do not communicate using words, but I guess they communicate both using their device and vocally). My son will continually be vocal and disturb the class, hit the teacher, hit other children, throw things at the assistant teachers and other children. He has an autism diagnosis (level 3) and has been attending the education support classes at the same school for 5 years without any behavioural issues until recently.
The first 4 weeks, this behaviour was communicated to me by writing in the communication diary, which is kept in his school bag, by speaking with Dad after school during pick-up, and through a behaviour support plan that was sent home for me to sign and return the following day. The strategies included him requesting a break, requesting to go to another class, or the sensory room. If this is done five times, he is rewarded with a treat. During this time, I expressed wanting to meet with them because of the things written in the diary, but his dad, the messenger, let me know they (the teachers) said this was not necessary because they thought they could deal with it, and the strategies they were using were helping.
Last week, I requested a meeting in writing via email, and we met later in the week. I said I was concerned about the things written in the diary and was not sure why no one had called to let me know at the time of the incidents. I also wanted to follow the same strategies at home but had some issues because of different parenting styles between me and Dad. We will meet again tomorrow with both parents and his therapist in attendance. He was excluded from school today because they were unable to stop him from throwing things at other children, and he was placed in a class by himself. I understand it is a safety concern, but what services can I access? What steps should I take? What can I do as a parent to help my son with his behaviour issues?
28 Aug 2025
The Council have missed the deadline for submitting their evidence to Tribunal, and missed all subsequent deadlines. The Tribunal have responded by saying: "It is ordered: The LA is bared from taking part in any proceedings pursuant to Rule 8(2)." (however it goes on to say: "the LA may apply within 28 days of this Order, for its participation to be re-instated pursuant to Rule 8(6)".) The date of the letter is 13/08/25 + 28 days = 10/09/25. The appeal is held on 12/09/25.
The parents are going to Tribunal because they object to the school listed in Section I. Because the Council have been bared from proceedings, and if they do not respond by 10/09/25, does this mean the parents automatically get the school they requested for their child?
I have been speaking to a parent who has 50/50 custody with her ex-husband. He lives in Camden and she lives in Hertfordshire. Her son has an EHCP with Camden who are objecting to their choice of school in Section I (in fact, in August Camden pushed the whole EHCP onto Hertfordshire Council despite knowing the Mother is about to move out of Hertfordshire).
Because the Mother has to move house (her lease comes to an end in 3 weeks) the children will live with the ex-husband full time for the next few weeks. On 12 Sept, they go to Tribunal to appeal section B, F and I. Will the Tribunal take into account the child is living in Camden at that point? Or does the Mother need to find a place in Camden before the Tribunal date? The outcome they want is for Camden to stop pushing the EHCP onto Hertfordshire and deal with it in borough.
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?
Our daughter is due to start school in September. She is 4 years old. We applied for a school place and the nearest school offered a place. A draft EHCP has been issued naming the school in section I. The school have now been formally consulted with the EHCP and have said they cannot meet need. This is not a surprise to us and we suspect she needs an EOTAS package.
If the final EHCP lists the school in section I, despite school saying they cannot meet need, where does this leave us? Her anxiety is high and she refused to attend preschool setting. Waits for the tribunal are likely 12+ months. Is judicial review the best option for us to challenge rationality of decision to name school in Section I that cannot need need?