February 15th deadline for phase transfer appeals.

By Saturday the 15th of February 2025, Local Authorities must comply with their statutory duty of issuing final Education, Heath, and Care Plans (EHCP) for every child going through a phase transfer at school.  These EHCPs must name in Section I the placement that your child should attend for the remainder of the academic year, and the placement they should attend from September 2025.

Please note, the February 15th deadline does not apply to children transferring to post 16 educational provisions, this deadline is different and Local Authorities have until 31st March 2025 to issue statutory amendments to EHCP’s for that phase transfer.

We understand that this transitional period can be an incredibly unsettling time for parents and children alike. The Local Authority’s decision on placement from September 2025, will undoubtedly have a profound impact upon your child’s future. Should you feel that your child’s needs will not been met in their new placement, here at HCB Solicitors we have a dedicated and experienced team of committed specialists who can assist. Our friendly team are experts in assisting parents and carers navigate the Tribunal appeals process with Local Authorities where individuals fail to receive an appropriate and satisfactory educational pathway.

If your Local Authority fails to comply with their statutory duty to issue your child’s phase transfer EHCP by 15th February 2025, please get in touch with our specialist SEN team here at HCB Solicitors. It is important that you contact us as soon as possible to determine the cause of the delay and to ensure that any subsequent disruption to your child’s education is minimised. We can challenge the Local Authority and help obtain the final phase transfer EHCP from them, without further delay.

It is also worth noting that if the Local Authority does comply with this deadline and you are unsatisfied with the placement named in Section I, you are entitled to submit an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), also known as the SEND Tribunal. Our SEN solicitors are experts in the field and can assist you through the entire process of obtaining a suitable placement for your child. In addition, we can assist you with amending sections B and F of their EHCP to ensure that these sections are quantified and specific. This will help ensure that your child is provided with the appropriate support to meet their future educational needs. We can also assist with appeals against the health and social care sections of the EHCP.

Please do not delay in starting your appeal. The SEND Tribunal is currently experiencing extensive delays. Whilst the Tribunal does reserve some slots for phase transfer appeals so they can have a Hearing date before the end of the academic year, demand has exceeded availability for the last few years. This means that some phase transfer Hearings are not taking place until the after the phase transfer should have taken place.  It is therefore important to appeal quickly, to try and obtain a Hearing slot before the end of the current academic year. We can assist with preparing your appeal right away and we will be able to lodge your appeal upon receipt of the final phase transfer EHCP.

Should you require any assistance in this regard, please do not hesitate to get in touch.  If you would like to discuss your matter with one of our specialist education legal team, please contact us on 0333 202 7175 or email education@hcbgroup.com.