Advice and Guidance on Transition Arrangements for Members
JUNE 2014
The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice 0-25 will become statutory in schools from September 2014. Until then the existing Code of Practice remains in place.
The Code of Practice provides statutory guidance on duties, policies and procedures relating to Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and associated regulations. It applies to England only. In Wales the Code of Practice for SEN which was published in 2004 remains the statutory guidance to which all schools should have regard.
Further guidance on the Code of Practice will be made available to members once it is formally published by the Department for Education later this term.
Do all children and young people with statements have to be transferred to an Education, Care and Health Plan by September 1st2014?
No. The guidance from the Department of Education makes it clear that schools should begin working towards moving all children and young people with statements in England onto EHC plans from September 2014.
The DfE says: We want this transition to happen at a pace that is achievable and which maintains the quality of support both to children and young people making the transition and those still on the previous system.
The DfE advise local authorities to transfer children and young people to the new system at points in their education when a significant review would have taken place such as transition from early years to primary, primary to secondary, secondary to FE or from a mainstream to special school or vice versa within the transition period (September 1st 2014 to 1st April 2018).
Therefore, groups of children and young people who should be transferred to the EHC Plan by the local authority in 2014/15 are:
- Children with statements in year 9;
- Children and young people issued with a draft EHC plan before September 2014; and
- Children and young people with a statement leaving custody between
1 September 2014 and 1 April 2015.
In order not to overwhelm the system in 2014/15 local authorities will be able to consider whether to transfer children in year 6 to EHC plans.
In Wales, Statements of SEN remain.
How long is the transition period for the changes?
Schools and Local authorities have until 1 April 2018 to complete the transition to the new arrangements.
Will School Action and School Action Plus provision cease from September 1 2014?
No. Schools should be working towards developing a single stage of ‘SEN Support’ or the graduated approach to supporting special educational needs for pupils who do not have a statement or an EHC plan. They may wish to continue to use School Action and School Action Plus for several terms until they are ready to adopt the graduated approach or ‘SEN Support’.
Many SENCOs are concerned about the inference that removing the School Action Plus stage symbolises removal of local authority support. Each local authority will have a different approach. Ask your head to vote for de-delegation to enable local authorities to retain support services.
In Wales, School and Early Years Action and Action Plus remain.
How will I know what is going on in my local authority?
Local authorities should produce a local transition plan which has been consulted upon with key stakeholders including parents and schools. This should be published initially in September 2014 but it is expected that it will require amendment as the process develops. A new transition plan should be produced at least annually.
If your school has not been consulted upon about the local transition plan or is not aware of its publication ask your head to ask the local authority.
What if some EHC plans have already been issued by my local authority?
These are called non-statutory or draft EHC Plans and were issued in some of the SEN pathfinder local authorities.
The draft EHC plans do not have the same statutory duties and rights associated with them as a statutory EHC plan issued on or after 1 September 2014. Some draft EHC plans may be suitable to be transferred to statutory EHC plans without significant changes but others may require additional assessment information and/or restructuring to comply with the 2014 Act and regulations.
It is likely that local authorities will seek to move children and young people with draft EHC plans to EHC plans early in the transition process.
Will some children and young people lose their statement and not have it replaced by an EHC plan?
This should not be the case. The DfE guidance says: “The legal test of when a child or young person requires an EHC plan remains the same as that for a statement under the Education Act 1996. Therefore, it is expected that all children and young people who have a statement, who would have continued to have one under the current system, will be transferred to an EHC plan – no child or young person should lose their statement and not have it replaced with an EHC Plan simply because the system is changing.”
If this occurs in your school or college please first discuss it with your workplace representative and SENCO, if this is appropriate. It would also be helpful if you could let us know at
Are there likely to be fewer new EHC plans issued than there were Statements?
Different local authorities have historically issued statements at different rates. EHC plans should be issued to meet need.
We are aware that some local authorities have ‘moved the goalposts’ with regard to local eligibility criteria for statutory assessment which will clearly impact on schools’ provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabled pupils.
Please feed any comments or observations about this back to the equalities team at
Does the SENCO need to have qualified teacher status (QTS)?
Yes. The Code states that SENCOs in maintained mainstream schools and mainstream academy schools (including free schools) must have QTS.
In the early years sector there is a variation in the expectations of different settings regarding SENCO qualifications.
In maintained nursery schools the designated SENCO must be a qualified teacher. They are not, however, required to have the prescribed qualification for National SEN Co-ordination if they are deemed to have ‘relevant experience’.
Other early years providers have to have ‘arrangements in place for meeting children’s SEN’. There is no requirement for the identified SENCO in group provision to have a qualification and child minder networks are simply‘encouraged’ to identify a person as a SENCO.
Some local authorities may provide an Area SENCO to work across early years providers. Unfortunately, in many areas where such good practice was being implemented the cuts to local authority budgets have meant a loss of this provision.
SENCO workload will be a key concern throughout the transitional period, particularly as so many educational changes are to be introduced in the next 24 months. Schools should provide adequate resources and non-teaching time.
SEND CoP - Advice and Guidance (June)_JE128 September 2018
Created: 20 June 2014/JE&CS
Revised: 24 June 2014/CS