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By 15 February 2026

By 15 February 2026, you will receive a letter outlining your child's final Education Health, and Care (EHC) plan. This is done on a case by case basis, so some parents may receive their letter earlier than 15 February.

In Section I of the plan, it will specify your child’s named school or the type of school for the next key stage:

• Reception,
• Year 3, or
• Year 7

The majority of children will have a named school, however in some circumstances we may only name a 'type' of school. The reasons for this are varied and dependent on a child's individual circumstances.

If you only receive a 'type' of school, you will have been contacted prior to 15 February to keep you updated with the reasons why, and advise you which schools we have consulted and the next steps. As soon as a school place is secured we will let you know or we will update you again by 31 March.

By start of the next academic year in September your child should have named school place or an alternative education provision will be in place.

Section F of your child's final EHC plan should include a description of the special education provision your child requires:

• small class teaching for maths and literacy,
• onsite speech and language or occupational therapy,
• specially trained staff, or
• spending a proportion of the school day in a small group as well as access to mainstream peers in a classroom setting.

School name not specified by 1 September 2026

Your EHC plan Coordination Officer will work closely with you to discuss possible alternative options to ensure that your child has access to an appropriate education for September. The possible next steps are set out below whilst we continue to seek a school placement:

• Children who have yet to reach compulsory school age may be able to continue attending their existing pre-school or nursery, until there is school place.
• Children in Year 2 at mainstream school, may be able to continue at their current school with a package of support until a specialist school is identified.
• An alternative education provision will be in place for your child, for example: Access to Education or Ñý¾«¶¯Âþ Online School.

Further information

Your EHC plan Coordination Officer will offer a 'Way Forward' meeting, if you wish to discuss the school that has been named, how we consulted schools, the content of the final EHC plan, or if a school has not yet been identified.

For more in-depth information, please see the following web pages:

• Requesting a particular nursery, school or college when a child has an EHC plan
• Transition Review process