DD getting EHCP - Will Local authority pay for TA in a private school?

[Sunnyd1234]

Hi All,
We have been told my DD will get an EHCP for 20hrs Teaching assistant hours. However the current school she needs a smaller class size. The only schools we can find locally with small class size are private.
I understand that if she goes to a special school then it can be private or Local authority and the costs are paid.
Does this apply if the private school is not a special school? Or would we have to pay fees and LA pay TA for example?
Thanks,
Sunny

I think it may be dependent on the local authority and the private school. I've done the funding in this case and the problem is that a state school is expected to fund the first £6k of the TA cost from the school budget . So if you move to private you may have to fund the £6k yourself. You need to ask the private school and the local authority.

Hi Sunny

My son had his 1:1 support at a private school paid by our LA (including the first £6k referred to by Guiloak), but not without a huge fight, and for the first few terms at the private school we had to pay for the whole cost of his 1:1 support ourselves until we'd convinced the LA to take on the bill. There were a few other pupils in the school with 1:1 support and nearly all of them had to pay for it themselves in full. Even those that had EHCPs had the LA stating that it was the family's choice to go to a private school and that the child's needs could be met just as well in state provision (even though it was clear that this wasn't the case) and that they would not fund 1:1 support in a private setting.

If you were looking to go down the special school route, it is far, far harder to convince the LA to fund an independent specialist setting than it is to get them to fund their own state alternative. To be honest, with currently 'only' 20 hours' 1:1 allocated to your DD's EHCP I think you'll face an uphill struggle to get it funded in private mainstream or a place in a special school.

My son started reception in a private school pre diagnosis & ehcp. When things started to fall apart & go horribly wrong for him the school were very supportive & understanding & we came to a mutual agreement that they would pay for 60% of my sons TA costs & we would pay the rest as well as the normal school fees.

Since he’s gotten his ehcp the only thing that LA cover is the TA costs.

It’s all a mute point now anyway as we realised that it’s not the right school for him & his current school can’t meet his needs going forward so he’s starting at a SS in September. But we have been extremely lucky that the school have been so amazing with him & helped so much with the TA costs. It really depends on the private school you are looking at & whether the LA are willing to stump up the cost.

Contact your local IASS as there are definitely legal guidelines regarding ehcps & private schools & u can get fees paid for, not sure about TAs though. Good luck!

I used to be an SEN Officer handling this kind of thing. As others said, it varies from one LEA to the other.

It's very unusual for an LEA to agree to pay private school fees + extra TA hours for a child who is considered to be able to manage in mainstream school. This is because of the principle of meeting need at the lowest cost possible. The LEA would normally decline to name the school on the grounds the child's needs can be met at their local mainstream school for a lower cost. Unless you have it in writing from an EP that the child 'needs' small class sizes for all subjects, you have an uphill struggle. (Not 'would benefit from', 'needs'.)

What is sometimes easier to broker is an agreement to share the costs. The cost to the LEA of providing an education to your child is not just the TA hours. There is a notional amount of funding the school has for every child with SEN and this needs to be added, as well as the per-pupil cost that is set by the LEA. With 20 hours in my LEA, the amount 'available' in that child's pot would be about £10,000 per year. Some parents negotiated for us to pay that amount to an independent school and they covered the rest.

For anything more I'd say you need a tribunal and a really good lawyer.

My son gets funding at an independent school which is a “learning support” school he has his own TA etc. It’s a case of getting a water tight EHCP worded and then convincing the authority that nowhere else is suitable/it’s the most cost effective use of their funds. It’s doable but not without a lot of fighting and feather ruffling.

Hi @Sunnyd1234

I just wondered how you have got on with private school funding? We are just beginning the process

Many Thanjs,

Hi actually we looked at all the mainstream private schools and the only one we thought might be good was 45 minutes drive a way on a good day but even then we didn’t the provision was going to be good enough. So we actually found a tiny village school hidden away 10 minutes from us which had the highest dyslexia support award, emotional support teacher etc. Her attitude to schooling has improved a lot. She has a TA shared with another girl who has similar level of attainment and they are very flexible about teaching her at the level she is at. It’s a tiny school. So she is making steady progress which hadn’t happened at the old school.
Hope this helps.