It is best to start thinking and planning about moving on from school from when your child enters Y9. The 'transfer' annual review of your child's EHCP will happen in Y10 and you will be asked for your thoughts and wishes are your young person's thoughts and wishes at this annual review. If you have already researched the options available to your young person, been to open days and spent some time speaking to your young person and their school, you will be in a much better position to give a considered view on which post 16 provision would be best.
Parents highlight the transition process as one of the areas that is very stressful. We hope this information provided here helps you navigate the transition process with less stress.
What is a new phase of education?
This is defined in regulation 2 of The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 (the SEND Regulations 2014) as a transfer from:
- early years education to school
- infant school to junior school
- primary school to middle school
- primary school to secondary school
- middle school to secondary school, or
- secondary school to a post-16 institution.
This process is called a “phase transfer”.
What happens to the EHC plan?
Regulation 18 of The SEND Regulations 2014 states that the EHC plan must be reviewed and amended before 31st March if the transfer is from secondary school to a post-16 institution
This means the local authority (LA) should start the annual review process in the autumn term of the year before your child or young person moves to:
- a new setting as part of that phase transfer, for example from primary to secondary school, or
- to a new phase. Some children attend an “all through school” which means they will move for example from primary education to secondary education whilst in the same setting. The review process still needs to be carried out for these pupils.
This review must still take place even if an annual review would not normally be due at that time.
You can learn more about the annual review process here.