Applying for an education setting if your child has an EHC Plan
To apply for a school place when your child has an EHC Plan, you’ll need to speak with their EHC Plan Coordinator
EHC Plan Coordinators used to be known as Special Educational Needs (SEN) Officers.
Your child’s EHC Plan Coordinator will speak with schools. We call this 'consulting' and it's how we find an appropriate education setting for your child. This consultation must be completed within 15 days.
View information about:
- naming your preferred setting
- phase transfers
- how we allocate spaces.
If you have more than one child, you will need to have separate conversations. This may be with a different EHC Plan Coordinator for each child.
Naming your preferred setting
You have a right to request a particular education setting for your child.
Your named preference can be a:
- special setting
- section 41 approved setting (Link to page 3 with info)
- further education setting.
We will take your preference into consideration. We have a duty to make sure that children and young people attend an appropriate education setting.
If you do not get your preferred setting
Sometimes, you might not get your preferred setting. This could be because:
- the setting is unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs (SEN) of your child
- the attendance of your child would not work for efficient education of other pupils
- the attendance of your child would not be an efficient use of resources.
If this happens, we’ll place your child in the nearest appropriate setting that meets their needs effectively.