Dan Rosenberg
Partner, Education & Public Law Solicitor
English
Your Local Authority that maintains your child’s Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) must issue a final amended EHCP by 15th February 2024 at the latest. This will name the school that they’re to attend from September.
They must do this even if the actual school placement will not change. For example, if your child attends a school that caters right through to secondary education, and they are going to remain there from September 2024.
We can help you if the local authority has missed the deadline. You may be able to challenge the decision by a judicial review. We can advise you of all the options available to you to get the best possible outcome for your child. It is crucial that action is taken quickly in these cases.
For initial advice get in touch with our Education Law Solicitors.
The deadline for phase transfer is 15th February 2024 for those in Year 6, and 31st March 2024 for children in Year 11. By this time, your Local Authority should have put together a final plan, naming a school or college for your child to attend from the following September.
If your Local Authority hasn’t issued the final amended EHCP, then you could:
It’s important that Local Authorities comply with the 15th February 2024 deadline. This is because if you as a parent disagree with the school named for September or any other part of the EHCP, this allows sufficient time for the issue to be resolved before the end of the academic year.
This can be through mediation and/or an appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SEND), which our Solicitors can help you with. If this deadline is not met, there’s no guarantee that the Tribunal will be able to deal with your appeal before the start of the new academic year. This means that there could be a delay in your child starting secondary school, or it could mean that they attend one school for a very short period of time before having to move. This can be traumatic for some children.
This is the same for those over 16 years, for which the deadline is 31st March 2024.
If the EHCP is not done in time, parents or young people who want to challenge the school or college named are at risk of the matter not being resolved before the start of the new academic year.
If you haven’t received the final EHCP in time and you’re concerned about this, you can contact one of our Education Law Solicitors or Lawyers to discuss your options. We recommend you get legal advice on how best to approach the matter before taking any action.
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Lydia Neill
Lydia Neill- Thank you for going above & beyond the call of duty in helping us get our son with additional needs into a school close to our home. You have showed incredible patience, tenacity, commi...
Marium Rahman
Simpson MillarHighly recommend for SEN education matters
I have been working with Rachel Scales now for the last year, and two of her colleagues before that. I have nothing but praise for the job they do. Rachel is kind, efficient and a great communicat...
Kathryn
Simpson MillarGreat Team - Supportive and Professional
The help we needed was very specific and we were assisted by a knowledgeable & kind team of professionals. Lucy Atherton and her team worked with us to provide a clear legal overview of our situation...
NickTalbot
Simpson MillarAfter over 1 year fighting with the LA. We won
After over 1 year fighting with the LA to provide the correct School for my daughter and to provide her with what she needs to have a successful education and having to take them to the Tribunal. My s...
chantelle armorer
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Knowledgeable and professional
The solicitor involved in our case, at Simpson Millar, was thorough, polite, friendly and professional. She regularly kept in contact with me via email. And made sure any questions were answered. The...
Helen
Simpson MillarI cannot thank Simpson Millar enough
I cannot thank Simpson millar enough especially Alice Gough for all the help and support regarding my son getting a place at a specialist school and amending his EHCP to enable the correct support. Al...
Kathryn
Simpson MillarSpecialist School Placement
I have had the help and support of Alice Gough throughout my sons tribunal process, she had provided so much through a very overwhelming and emotional process for myself and helped me in a situation w...
OliviaT
The use of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) can divide opinions but Simpson Millar’s specialist solicitors within our Education Law team have been instructed in many cases where there has been evidence of its success. Just one example of this is when we acted for the parents of a six year old girl who we will refer to as J throughout this article for the purposes of maintaining client confidentiality and privacy.
We helped a mother gain a placement for her child in her preferred school during a Judicial Alternative Dispute Resolution (JADR) Hearing, in a disagreement over travel costs.
We helped a child’s parents bring a judicial review and a positive ending in a case where the Local Authority were failing to provide suitable education.
If your child has Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), they may need an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). But we understand that EHCPs can be confusing.
An EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) identifies your child’s Special Educational Needs (SEN) and should entitle them to the right provision they need to support them.
The EHCP working document paperwork process is an important part of any appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal against the contents of an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Learn More
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