Upon receipt of a draft EHCP, a parent or young person has a right to request the school they want to be named in the final EHCP.

A draft EHCP is issued either:

• as the result of an EHC needs assessment where the local authority has decided an EHCP is required
• or when an EHCP is amended following an Annual Review

In both of these situations a parent or young person has a right to request that any of the following types of school or other institution are named in Section I of the EHCP:

• a maintained nursery
• a maintained school, academy or free school (mainstream or special)
• a non-maintained special school
• an FE or sixth form college, or
• an institution (independent school or independent specialist college) approved by the Secretary of State under s.41 Children & Families Act 2014.

s.38(3) Children & Families Act 2014

Often parents do not wish their child/young person to change school when they get an EHCP or their EHCP is amended. There is nothing preventing a parent from requesting for the mainstream school the child/young person is currently attending.

If you are considering requesting a different school to the one your child/young person currently attends to be named on their EHCP, you may find our Checklist for Visiting Schools useful.

After receiving a request for any of these types of schools/settings the Local Authority has a duty to consult the governing body before that school/setting can be named.

Unless there is a legally valid reason then the requested school/setting must be named on the EHCP.