EHCPs throw out SEN admissions

Yesterday, 2 March 2015, children found out which secondary school they would go to in September.

This year the competition for school places has been higher than ever. This year’s statistics reveal that in some regions of London 45% of pupils did not get their preferred placement. This figure is at 31% in Birmingham and 25% in Bristol. This is linked with a yearly 4% increase in applications received by schools.

This academic year has brought further difficulties because children are starting to make the move from Statement to Education, Health and Care Plan.

Until 2018, specific groups of children have to move from Statement to EHCP. For this year only, the deadline for that transition to be completed is 31 May 2015. This has caused some significant problems with admissions.

There are three key dates in the admissions diary:

• 15 February – children with a Statement/EHCP should know which school they will be attending in the following September.
• 2 March – children without special educational needs find out their secondary school placements.
• 16 April –children without special educational needs find out their primary school placements.

There are two main reasons that children with Statement/EHCP find out their school placements first:

1. Children with a Statement/EHCP have admissions priority. Schools must admit children when they are named in the Statement/EHCP. Knowing this by 15 February enables schools to work out how many other places it has left to offer by March.
2. If parents disagree with the school placement, finding out by 15 February gives parents enough time to seek SEN advice and to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal and for a decision to be reached before the start of the new school year.

However, the transition to EHCPs is causing significant difficulties.

If local authorities had been forward looking they should have realised they had two options:

1. Amend the Statement by 15 February, naming the new placement, and then start the 14 week process of transition to EHCP; or
2. Start the 14 week process of transition in early November so that, even allowing for delays, a final EHCP with a school named could be issued by 15 February.

What is actually happening, repeatedly, is that transition is starting at any time during the academic year. Local authorities are not pre-empting the issue of secondary school placements. This means that children’s Statements are left un-amended so no secondary arrangements are made. The formal secondary placements are not being resolved until the issue of the EHCP which means that many children with an EHCP will not know of their allocated school until after 2 March i.e. after children with no EHCP. In the confusion with transitions to EHCPs and deadlines for amending the Statement for phase transfers, there is a real risk that  children with a Statement or EHCP may not know for certain which secondary school they will go to in September.

Many parents will not receive final notification of their child’s secondary school until May–July this year. It is very unlikely that parents could appeal to the Tribunal and have a decision before September if they receive a decision this late.

If parents are in this situation, they should seek SEN advice urgently. Admissions arrangements must be made for their child and if the issue is yet to be resolved, local authorities must be focussing on the issue.

This is just another example of local authorities struggling with the transition to EHCPs and how, practically, the implementation of Children and Families Act is causing upset to families and children with special educational needs.