Experiences of securing private school funding through an EHCP review

[Applesandpears58]

Currently DC is in reception in a state primary and has an EHCP. We're aware it is not the right place for him, and he would be much better off in smaller class sizes, current class size is 31. We are starting to go down the route of asking the EHCP to pay for a local private school. We have viewed a school which we think would be great for him and his current school have said they will help us to get him there, they have been great at gathering as much evidence as they can to make a case to the LA.
My questions are if anyone has any experience of this, can you give me a rough timescale of how long it took? The school has space, so not going any issues around that, but we are expecting to have a fight and go to tribunals etc.
When his EHCP got finalised, whilst it wasn't as in depth as we wanted, we were advised to leave it for now, let him start school and see what the school can do for him, as they might be able to put more in place then what is in the EHCP. Due to this, we have never appealed, or gone to a tribunal etc, so have no idea how long these things take. (This will be our first review). We are still relatively new to the EHCP world and it has been a huge learning curve. Any tips would also be greatly appreciated.

The AR process is as follows:

1. Updated advice and information must be circulated at least 2 weeks prior to the AR meeting. (Although if they are ready, some parents decide to forgo needing 2 weeks, especially if it is an early review.)
2. Then you have the AR meeting.
3. Within 2 weeks of the AR meeting, a report must be circulated.
4. Within 4 weeks of the AR meeting, the LA must inform you if they propose to amend or not. If they are proposing to amend, they must send the amendment notice/draft/notice of amendment/proposed amendments (whatever the LA/you want to call it) at the same time and you must be given at least 15 days to comment on the amendments and state your preferred placement.
5. Then if the LA is going to amend, they must finalise within 8 weeks of sending the proposed amendments, so max of 12 weeks from the AR meeting.

LAs often think these timescales don’t apply to them. They do.

Unfortunately, many have to appeal to secure an independent placement. If you have to appeal, unless the LA concedes during the appeal process, you are looking at over a year with a hearing during the 27/28 academic year.

The school has a space, but have they agreed/will they agree to offer a place/be named in the EHCP?

Thank you, very useful information. Current school have told case worker they are aiming for him to be in for this September, I feel that is very optimistic, I was thinking start of January term at the earliest, but we will see. If the LA don't adhere to timescales, what can we do about it? I'm also aware that the summer holidays are fast approaching, does much get done in these months?
We have been very open with private school, when we viewed it, we sat down with the head teacher and SENCO and they had copies of EHCP, recent SALT and CCN reports and said if we were to pursue a place here then we would hope EHCP would be paying for it. It is a small school very strong on SEN which is why we chose to look round.

If chasing the LA doesn’t work, you can look at a pre-action letter.

LAs often use the summer holidays as an excuse for breaching the AR timescale, but they shouldn’t. Don’t fall for it.

In my experience you need a professional report saying that kind of setting is required to meet their needs. Such as small class sizes etc. So either an EP, OT or SALT.

There isn't much info in your posts. Can you evidence that the current school aren't meeting need? Is the only reason you want the private school class size?

It costs so much money for an LA to fund a private school place obviously, so you need solid evidence that there isn't a state school that can meet need.

We Wouldn’t be going for this this unless we genuinely thought it was best for our child and have explored other options. Obviously we know it’s expensive for the LA and they don’t like doing it, so we wouldn’t be perusing it unless we thought we had a chance at succeeding. We are gathering as much evidence as possible to support our request of change of placement.
this post was more asking whether anybody had any experience of this and how long it took. Rough timelines etc.

Of course you think it's best for your child. Lots of people think private school is best for their child. I'm just saying you haven't given much information so it's hard to know if you have evidence. You were asking about experience and time lines. I've got experience of people not succeeding, which is why I asked about evidence.

When dealing with the LA, be careful about the language you use. The LA doesn’t have a duty to provide the best possible education. Only what is appropriate and reasonably required. Note, I am not saying DS doesn’t need an independent placement, just that you need to be careful about how you phrase it.

I have gone through this process with my son, he goes to an independent school paid for by the LA. The difference is, his school is a specialist school, for ASD and ADHD. Other people I know that tried this process to get into "regular" private schools were not successful. We had to hire an advocacy agency to help us through the process, we also had to pay for private EP reports. His mainstream primary school where completely in support of us, but the only thing that got us through, was that the mainstream secondary school basically said they couldn't meet the needs of the EHCP (that the advocacy agency had had made watertight). The LA fought us tooth and nail to not have to pay school fees for him, ultimately the whole process comes down to how much "legal" money you have to throw at the problem, which basically makes it unobtainable to some people, therefore a deeply unfair system. The LA will do not care that you feel it's the right setting for your kid, they are only bothered if you can catch them out about having a legal obligation to your child, that is the sad truth.

Representation isn’t essential. Most parents don’t pay for representation.

If independent assessments are required and parents can’t afford them, but they aren’t eligible for legal aid, which can fund independent assessments where necessary, they could look at charity funding.

I'm not saying its essential to have representation, but I am saying that you are more likely to succeed as they know the ins and outs of the laws, and what the duties are that the LA need to be in line with. It's getting increasingly harder to get the LA to fund places, as so many people have EHCP's these days. The main thing you need is evidence, I would say that the EP report is pretty important though.

My post saying representation isn’t essential was in response to you saying “the whole process comes down to how much "legal" money you have to throw at the problem”. I was pointing out it is perfectly possible to successfully force the LA’s hand without spending a penny on legal costs.

1.5 years a tribunal. £9k on private reports, £8k advocate. Now not at that school so pointless 🤣 make sure you find an inclusive independent mainstream (lots pretend they are inclusive but some don’t want sen children as that causes too many adjustments / hassle). Or some just want a bum on the seat for cash.

Small school will it go burst or merge.

We offered a placement at a small independent school on initial application for EHCP. We haven’t been through renewal yet.

LO had already been unable to cope in a mainstream setting. They struggled in a school based preschool, required a reduced timetable, and still experienced frequent episodes of school refusal.

Moved to an academically selective private school for Reception, where they were able to attend full‑time.

Year One, private Sensory OT assessment stated a low‑arousal environment was needed, and the private Educational Psychologist advised that small class sizes were essential.

The Local Authority only consulted small private schools, as these were the only settings able to meet LO’s needs in relation to class size. They’re also significantly cheaper than a specialist school.