Deadline fast approaching: secondary phase transfer for children with EHCP

The deadline for naming secondary transfer placement is fast approaching for children in Year 6 with an Education Health and Care Plan. For those who have not yet received their amended plan, it can be an anxious wait until 15 February; the day on which all EHCP’s for secondary phase transfer in Year 7 should have been finalised and issued.  

By now, those children transferring to secondary school should have undergone a review of their EHCP and some may have already received an amended EHCP naming secondary placement from September 2022 in Section I.

For transfers for young people from secondary school to a post-16 institution or apprenticeship in 2022, the deadline to review and make any amendments to the EHCP is 31 March. Where the transfer is taking place at a different time of the year to September, the local authority must take this into account and review and amend the EHCP at least five months before the transfer takes place.

For urgent advice or assistance, please contact Polly Kerr, Senior Associate, who leads the Education team here at Tees.

What if I am not happy with the school named in my child’s EHCP?

If the local authority has issued a final EHCP and you are unhappy with the setting named in section I, you have the right to appeal the local authority’s decision in the First Tier Tribunal. You have two calendar months to lodge the appeal but you should act quickly because time is of the essence ahead of transition in September and the tribunal may well receive an influx of these appeals at the same time. If you are only appealing Section I of the EHCP you do not need a mediation certificate. If you intend to open any other appealable sections of the EHCP, a mediation certificate would be required, and we suggest you make enquiries with the relevant mediation services as soon as possible.  

What should I do if a review has not been carried out?

If your child is transferring schools and the local authority has not yet arranged a review, you should contact your local authority representative as soon as possible to arrange this as the Local Authority is in breach of its statutory duty.

You have a right to complain to the local authority if they have not issued an amended EHCP following review by 15 February or otherwise may consider a public law remedy arising from the Judicial Review process.