Independent school no ehcp

[user1490605186]

Hi guys
I'm Lee dad to 13y old Elizabeth and new here be gentle....
Elizabeth has asd and is presently not been at her mainstream school for a few months due to bullying, been in tac for over a year with a very non understanding school.
We've just sent off forms for ehcp but have been offered a place at an independent school that seems to fill the gap has not a special school or mainstream but that bit in the middle which until now I didn't think existed., they have offered to take Elizabeth without a ehcp at the moment but we need her current mainstream school to refer her we know there argument may be funding but can they really refuse to refer her? Does anyone know of any legal grounds we stand on to inefect to force there hand.
Any help would be more than appreciated
Many many thanks

I used to be an SEN Officer and have a lot of tribunal experience, I am now an independent SEN Consultant.

An independent school will want its fees paying. You can only get the fees funded if your daughter has an EHCP and you can prove no cheaper school could meet her needs. So I don't understand why an independent school would accept a child with no guarantee of how the fees would be paid. If you are paying in the interim then they won't need a referral from school as such but will want information on attainment and progress and may decline if they feel a pupil won't progress there. Ultimately you can't force an independent school's hand, their decision is final. Some schools will agree to waive fees while a tribunal is ongoing but if you don't have an EHCP yet that seems unlikely and is in any case risky as tribunals can go either way.