Phased Transfers

When young people have the benefit of an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) not only should they be reviewed annually, but at each phased stage of their education (early years to school, primary to secondary and secondary to post 16 etc) there will be an additional process whereby a new EHCP will be produced following the last annual review that names the placement for the next academic year.

For primary to secondary, the new final EHCP should be sent to parents by the 15 February in the year of transition up and for post 16 it should be the 31 March. From one post 16 institution to another it should be at least 5 months before the move, but the earlier this process begins, the better.

Time is of the essence and you should not allow the authority any leeway in issuing the document beyond these dates.

Prior to issue of the final EHCP the local authority will need to have issued a draft and consulted with both parental preference schools and any other school that they wish to consult.

There are a couple of reasons for the deadline for documents to be produced. Young people with EHCPs take precedence and should be top of the oversubscription criteria for school admissions, so they need their places allocating before everyone else. No young person with an EHCP should be going through the usual school admission place allocation process.

Also, if there is an appeal required against the name of the school set out, then having the final EHCP by the 15 February or 31 March allows more time to appeal the decision so that a young person can ideally start a new placement with their peers in the September. Tribunal timings can be delayed even for phase transfer, so the earlier you start that process the better. A case may also need to made out for expedition of the hearing. Any delay can be extremely detrimental.

For those reasons, it is critical that deadlines are not missed. If your local authority does not release the final EHCP by the given dates, then you may have a legal challenge to force them to do so. This would be by way of a Judicial Review process that can force the authority to comply with the deadline and issue the document. That way you can get on the road to either the best school for your child or an appeal as quickly as you can.

We are able to assist you through this process at each stage and offer bespoke payment package tailored to your needs.