How school places are allocated for children with Education Health and Care plan

Apply for a school place for a child with an Education Health and Care plan

How school places are allocated

Contents

School places will be allocated in accordance with the Children and Families Act 2014. This requires the local authority to take into account your request for a school for your child, your child's special educational needs, if their needs can be meet by the school, and if the school is:

  • suitable for your child's age, ability, aptitude or their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) needs.
  • suitable for them to be educated with other children with the same needs.
  • an efficient use of resources.

The same would apply if your child is currently in mainstream school, and you are requesting a place for your child at a specialist school.

Allocation criteria

If a school is oversubscribed, then places will be allocated to Surrey students first, based on and in order of the below criteria:

  1. The school is suitable to your child's age, ability, aptitude or SEND .
  2. Distance order to home address, measured as a straight line (if criteria 1 is also satisfied).
  3. Children who are looked after and children who were previously looked after.
  4. Siblings already attending (if criteria 1 is also satisfied).
  5. Faith (evidenced based on admissions requirements of the school (if criteria 1 is also satisfied).

The address to be used is your child's current permanent place of residence, usually the parents address:

  • If as a parent or carer you do not live together, the address to be used is where your child spends most of their time.
  • If you share equal custody of your child, you need to decide which address to use.
  • For looked after children their foster of children’s home address will be used as their resident address.

Addresses not to be used:

  • Business, childminder's or relative's address (unless the child lives at the relatives address as their normal place of residence)
  • Temporary addresses should not be used to obtain a school place when an alternative address is still available to your child. For example: If the main parent or carer of the child still owns or rents a property,  and that has previously been used as a home address.

If your child moves address during the admissions process, please inform their SEND Case Officer as soon as possible, with proof of their new address.

If your child is allocated a school place based on an address that is found to be different from the child's permanent address, their school place may be withdrawn.

You need to inform your child's SEND Case Officer if your child has a sibling currently attending a school you have requested.

Providing the school is also suitable for the SEND needs of your child, this will be taken into account when we allocate places.

Siblings are defined as:

  • Brother or sister with the same parents whether living at the same address or not.
  • Half brother or sister living as part of the same family unit at the same address, Monday to Friday.
  • Adopted or fostered brother or sister living as part of the same family unit at the same address, Monday to Friday.
  • Step brother or sister living as part of the same family unit at the same address, Monday to Friday.

Looked after children

Looked after children are those who are in the care of a Local Authority or provided with accommodation by a Local Authority in accordance with section 22 of the Children Act 1989 at the time a preference for a school is expressed, for example, children who are fostered or living in a children's home.

Previously looked after children

Previously looked after children are those who have previously been in the care of a Local Authority in accordance with Section 22 of the Children Act 1989 and ;have left that care through:

  • adoption
  • a child arrangement order (in accordance with section 8 of the Children Act 1989 and as amended by the Children and Families Act 2014)
  • or special guardianship order (in accordance with section 14A of the Children Act 1989).
Travel assistance
Final EHC plan and offer of a school place

Did you find this information helpful?

Rating Did you find the information helpful?

We aren't able to reply to individual comments, so please don't include any personal details.