Has anyone self funded an educational placement while waiting for tribunal

[shelsley]

My 19 year old daughter with Down's Syndrome has been offered a place at a wonderful residential training college but the LA won''t name it on her EHCP so we are going to tribunal. The trouble is that the course starts next week but the tribunal isn't until December so in the meantime she's missing the best part of her 1st term there. We're considering trying to raise the money to self fund her 1st term so she doesn't miss out. Has anyone any experience of this? Thanks.

People do do this quite regularly, and it can be helpful as you can call someone from the college as a witness. However, the tribunal won't be affected by the fact that, if they find against you, that means disrupting her education, because they will take the view that that is the risk you chose to take.

Might the college itself help out, e.g. by offering funding or deferring claiming fees till the tribunal result is known?

Is the LA offering anything? They do have a duty to deliver what is in section F of the EHCP, so they if they're not offering any alternatives you could point out that they're in breach of their statutory duty and threaten legal proceedings to enforce her rights to education support.

Thanks Tonnerre, yes we're already well down the legal route, challenging the LA as they've been in breach of just about everything :-( . They've now finally named a completely unsuitable college so we're battling that. Have now found out that self funding isn't an option as we have to guarantee a year's worth of fees which we can't do.

Might the college offer any sort of concession? Some do in your situation.