Academies and SEN

[insanityscatching]

Yesterday received a proposed amended statement for ds naming the mainstream sixth form of the school where he has been a member of the ASD unit for the last five years.
As far as I know the school hasn't been consulted prior to the naming of the school although have previously informed LA of being unable to meet ds's needs in the unit for post 16.
Apart from the fact that there isn't a curriculum or peer group for ds in mainstream sixth form and he is unlikely to make the entry requirements, as an academy school could they refuse him admission?
Obviously I won't know whether they will until after the start of the new term when LA expect ds to turn up and the school to conjure up a curriculum and 30 hours TA support

[MM5]

No, an academy school has to follow the statutory admissions policy. First on the list is Looked after children and second is SEN Statmented children. So, they cannot refuse him.

[insanityscatching]

Would that be regardless of whether he met the entry requirements? So for example entry requirements for the sixth form are 5 GCSE passes A* to C. Ds may get three but only one is pretty much certain tbh and he is unlikely to be able to access the courses AS /A2 and B Tec that are available. Indeed his statement focusses on basic living and work skills with an aside of accredited qualifications.
I will be appealing obviously but it would have been great if the Academy had been able to refuse his admission anyway.

[prh47bridge]

The LA can refuse to name a school on the statement on the basis that the child does not meet the academic selection criteria but once the school is named they have has no choice but to admit, regardless of the type of school.

Am I correct in thnking that the school named by the LA is not the one you chose? There are only very limited grounds on which the LA can refuse to name the school you want so, provided you can make a good case why your preferred school is the right one for your son, you should have a good chance of winnnig your appeal.

[insanityscatching]

I think the LA named the school to stop the Judicial Review process more than anything else tbh because we are now eight months after Annual Review and six months past deadline.
The proposed amended statement doesn't make sense particularly because it has been written from reports from 1998 when ds was 3 and advises the sixth form to access college provision and work experience for ds because he won't be able to access the curriculum that is followed in sixth form rather than naming a provision that could provide him with a curriculum and provision to meet his needs.
Nobody wants ds to be quite honest (the look of horror when I have touted his current statement and details of his needs by current placement has been universal) and the LA can't suggest anywhere that can meet his needs but are trying to evade the independent special school I have requested.
The school that the LA have named is the one that the ASD unit is attached to which has already advised that even with specialist 1 to 1 support at all times ds isn't coping but because it's an 11 to 16 placement they named the attached school after first naming the unit.